________________
INTRODUCTION
( Translator's Note ) The translator craves indulgence of readers for not being able to maintain faithfully the spirit of the original writing. The work was written for the Gujarātī-knowing public, especially for the Jaina pilgrims. The publishers as well as the translator are conscious of the wider appeal of the English edition and have, therefore, omitted several portions of original lengthy introductions or summarised
them.
As far as possible, the descriptive parts, which constitute the main bulk of this text, are kept as they were; though the translation is not a literal one, an honest attempt is made to maintain the style of the original writing of the now departed author, the Revered Muni Shri Jayantavijayajī whose four volumes on Ābu have rendered signal service to the cause of Jaina studies and have been a great help not only to the Jaina pilgrims but to the Hindu ones and tourists of all communities also.
The Jaina shrines at Delvāļā (Mt. Ābu) deserve special monographs on their architecture and sculpture with proper charts, systematic descriptions and copious illustrations. Like the shrines at Khajuraho, Konārak, or Shravana Belgoļa, Mūdabidrī, Jinanāthapura etc., the shrines at Delvādā, Kumbhāriā, Tāraigā, Girnās or Jālor etc., represent a typical provincial school of art which flourished in the mediæval period of Indian History, between c. 11001400 A. D. For students of this art, mainly sponsored by the Chālukyan court of Anahillavāņa Pāțan, a proper study of the Delvādā shrines is indispensable. Another important shrine, though of a later age, byt unique in plan, is the