Temple of Satrunjaya

SR No.: 001642
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publication Year: 1977
Total Pages: 122
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Art, Worship, & Culture
File Size: 5 MB

Page 8

Introduction
The splendour of architecture as a crowning achievement of taste and inspiration for the realisation of Eternity has been seldom reflected as it is amidst the profound panorama of Satrunjaya famed for its city of nearly a thousand temples. Rising about two thousand feet above seal-level at the south of Palitana in Kathiawad the ancient crests visualise the holy grandeur of a Jaina mahātirtha. Sanctified by the memory of Krsna, Balarama, Adinatha and Aristanemi as also the idylls of the Yadavas who migrated to Dvaraka from Mathura, the region of Gujarat has a perspective of history extending to a remote antiquity. From the days of the Harappan port of Lothal down to the epochs of the Mauryas, the Ksaharatas, the Guptas and the Calukyas the peninsula of Kathiawad had its own aura of importance which also shone through following centuries across the age of the Mughals. The Asokan edict at Girnar and the inscriptions at Junagarh engraved in epochs ranging from the days of Rudradaman and Skandagupta to the age of the Calukyas will highlight such an importance. It was in this context and in comparable fields in other parts of India James Burgess found himself engaged in the task of enquiry for which Indians will remain ever grateful to him. With his usual attachment for art and love for details he initiated a new discipline of study as an unforgettable stalwart in the age of Sir Alexander Cunningham in the nineteenth century. In fact, before he was entrusted with the regular programme of archaeological survey in West India in 1873 James Burgess already prepared valuable inventories and portfolios of photographs in respect of monuments scattered from Sind to Hyderabad across the then Central Provinces. Being an architect himself he deeply appreciated the ancient shrines and other edifices rich in their inspiring and symbolic styles. Obviously, his attention was drawn to the monuments of Somnath, Satrunjaya, Junagarh and Girnar before the year. With the greatest care as possible in those