History Of Jainism With Special Reference To Mathura

SR No.: 022807
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: U K Sharma
Publisher: D K Printworld P L
Publication Year: 2001
Total Pages: 304
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 9 MB

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History of Jainism with Special Reference to Mathurā
to these temples. 81 The fact that numerous Jaina temples were constructed at Khajuraho is indicative of the popularity of Jainism in this part of Bundelkhand in the early medieval period. The discovery of Jaina sculptures from Gwaliors2 also furnishes proof of the existence or popularity of Jainism in Bundelkhand in the medieval period. Considerable Jaina antiquities have been discovered at Deogadh also.83
Jainism in Malwa
Malwa or the region around Ujjain® also became a stronghold of Jainism.85 Samprati, a grandson of the Maurya king Asoka, was the ruler of Ujjain.86 And, if we believe in the story of Samprati's conversion to Jainism, the spread of this religion to Malwa must be placed as early as the second century BC.88 The famous story of Kālkācārya, the Jaina saint, implies the spread of Jainism in Malwa in the first century BC.89
Jainism appears to have been popular among the middle classes in Malwa and the region near it even in the Gupta period. The Udayagiri inscription of Malwa (AD 426), belonging to the reign of the Gupta ruler Kumaragupta, records the erection of a statue of Pārsva by a private individual.90 The Kahaum inscription of the time of the Gupta ruler Skandagupta (bearing AD 461) refers to the installation of images of five
81. Percy Brown, Indian Architecture, Buddhist and Hindu Periods, 2nd rev. and enlarged
edn., p. 133. 82. HIEA, pp. 243-5; HOFA, p. 268. 83. JPV, p. 21. 84. AOIU, P. 418. 85. CHI, I, p. 167; AOIU, p. 418; CMHI, II, p. 363. 86. HJM, p. 91. 87. Ibid., AOIU, p. 418. 88. AOIU, p. 418. 89. Ibid. 90. CII, III, p. 251; CA, p. 404; CHAI, III, p. 286.