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ART AND ARCHITECTURE
169
toilet.” The workmanship of the decorative detail of the exterior in the Mālāde temple at Gyaraspur near Vidiśā, belonging to about the same period and region, and the huge images in its sanctum display the high standard of art and architecture that prevailed for a long time over a great area of central India.
The two temple complexes, known as the Delawārā temples at Mt. Abu built in the 11th and 12th centuries A.D., by the ministers of the kings of Gujarat, are regarded among the minor wonders of the world. About these dreams in marble which were designed if not exactly by Titans, were certainly finished by jewellers, Henry Cousens wrote, "The amount of beautiful ornamental detail spread over these temples in the minutely carved decoration of ceilings, pillars, doorways, panels and niches, is simply marvellous; the crisp, thin, translucent, shelllike treatment of the marble surpasses anything seen elsewhere, and some of the designs are veritable dreams of beauty. The work is so delicate that ordinary chiselling would have been disastrous. It is said that much of it was produced by scrapping the marble away, and that the masons were paid by the amount of marble dust so removed." Forgusson, another famous connoisseur of Indian art, observed, "In both temples a single block in the angles of the octagon suffices to introduce the circle. Above the row of the ornaments sixteen bracket pedestals are introduced, and supporting statues in the centre is a pendent of the most exquisite beauty. The whole is in white marble and finished with a delicacy of detail and appropriateness of ornamentation which is probably unsurpassed by any similar example to be found anywhere else. It is difficult, by means of illustrations to convey a correct idea of the extreme beauty and delicacy of these pendant ornaments."
In Karnataka and further south, a number of Jaina temples at Sravanabelgola, Kambadahalli, Jinanāthapura, Humcha, Lakkundi, Tirumalai, Tirupparuttikkunram, Mudabidri, Karkala, Venur, Halebid, Gerusoppe, Hampi, and several other places,
| SR No. | 002009 |
| Book Title | Religion and Culture of the Jains |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Jyoti Prasad Jain |
| Publisher | Bharatiya Gyanpith |
| Publication Year | 1999 |
| Total Pages | 258 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English, Religion, & Culture |
| File Size | 16 MB |