Jaina Philosophy Historical Outline

SR No.: 006569
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Narendra Nath Bhattacharya
Publisher: Munshiram Manoharlal Publisher's Pvt Ltd New Delhi
Publication Year: 1976
Total Pages: 242
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 15 MB

Page 57

36 Jain Philosophy in Historical Outline
beautifully carved fane at Mirpur between Abu and Sirohi ; the Caumukha temple at Ranakpur in the Goḍvāḍ district, etc.1 Other interesting Jain temples and towers are to be found at Paresnath, Chitorgarh and Gwalior. Jaipur and Bikaner in Rajasthan possess some Digambara remains, while Jesalmere has a group of Svetambara temples. The site of Budhi Canderi is rich in Jain sculptures comparable in style to those of Deogarh fort and Sironi in Central India. In Khandesh, Digambara Jain vestiges are found at Erandol and Cahardi. Digambara temples exist at Miri and Ghotan in the Ahmednagar district, while in the Nasik district are a few Jain caves. The temple city of Satruñjaya in Saurastra is considered specially sacred to Rṣabha, the first Tirthamkara. The temples are said to be over five hundred, grouped in separate enclosures, generally containing one principal temple with other smaller ones. Some of the temples are believed to be as old as the eleventh century, while the majority range from around AD 1500 to the present time. The hill of Girnar, not far from Junagadh, contains a group of Jain temples, some sixteen in number. Of these the largest and perhaps also the oldest is the Neminatha temple. An inscription upon it records that it was repaired in AD 1278, and hence its original erection must have been considerably earlier than this date.2
The temples mentioned above contain elaborate sculptured ornamentations and cult images of the Jinas. The medieval Jina images hailing from different parts of India reflect a formal stereotyped character, but the attendant figures are displayed in various ways. Of the important medieval images we may refer to the seated Rṣabhanatha from Śrāvasti which shows a number of miniature seated Jains on the rectangular prabhavali in four rows; to the standing figures of Ajitanatha and Candraprabha, both from Deogarh; to the very well-carved seated image of Santinatha in the collection of the Fyzabad Museum; and to the image of Rṣabhanatha found at Surohor in the Dinajpur district of Bengal. Other Jain sculptures from Bengal included a figure of Santinätha from Ujani in the Burdwan district, figures of Pārsvanatha from Bahulārā, Harmashra, Deulbhira and Siddheśvara in the Bankura district and a bronze figure of Ambika from Nalgora as also a stone sculpture of Adinatha from Ghateśvara in the 24 Parganas.
1Shah, SJA, pp. 22-24.
*Fergusson, HIEA, II, pp. 27-33.