Page Text
________________
Fetrospect
373
found so frequently where they have held sway, as in the remoer parts of India; but, whether from this cause or not, they seem to be more frequent in Kanara and am.ong the Southern Jainas than in any other part of India. Fergusson further suggests that there may be some connection between these Jaina stambhas and the obelisks of the Egyptians.102 Regarding these Jaina pillars in Kanara Mr. Walhouse has remarked that “The whole capital and canopy are a wonder of light, elegant, highly decorated stone work, and nothing can surpass the stately grace of these beautiful pillars whose proportions and adaptation to surrounding scenery are always perfect, and whose richness of decoration never offends. ”103 According to Smith, in the whole range of Indian Ait there is nothing perhaps equal to these Kanaia pillars for good taste. 104 .
There is evidence to show that apart from pillars the Jainas, especially from Northern India, might have constructed a great number of towers dedicated to their Tirthankaras. There is such a tower which is still adorning Chitor in Mewar and it is considered as one of the best preserved monuments in India. This Jaina Tower at Chitor is a singularly elegant specimen of its class, about 75 feet in height and adorned with scuplture and mouldings from the base to the summit. The tower was constructed in the 12th century and was dedicated to Ādinātha, the first of the Jaina Tirthankaras, and nude figures of them are repeated some hundre of time on the face of the tower.105
The innumerable specimens of Jaina sculpture found in practi·cally all parts of India show that the Jainas enlisted the services
of sculptors from very ancient times. Their most common form of sculpture up to this day is modelling of images or statues of their Tirthankaras.106 But in giving shape to these figures no scope at all was given for the free play of imagination of individual sculptors as regular rules regarding the form and pose of statues of Tirthankaras had been prescribed by the Jaipa religion from the very beginning.107 Consequently practically all Jaina images pertain to one class and therefore Jaina images from any parts of the country cannot be distinguished from their style even though they belong to different ages altogether. It is significant to note that the Jaina images have been made of all substances and sizes and are almost always invariable in attitude, whether that be seated
| SR No. | 007019 |
| Book Title | Jaina Community a Social Survey |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Vilas Sangve |
| Publisher | Popular Book Depot Bombay |
| Publication Year | 1980 |
| Total Pages | 484 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 12 MB |