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JAINA ANTIQUARY.
i Vol. I
chief fronts, the triangles on the base and neck, carved with flowers A richly carved door leads to the small ante-chamber in front of the shrine. On the under-side of the door cornice is carved a dancing figure between two musicians.
It will be at once noticed that the austere asceticism which symbolised itself in the huge stoic and naked monoliths was also counter-balanced, if not more than counter-balanced by the abundance and variety of these sculptures which in a sense give expression to the later and emotionalised Jainism. There are not a few traces of the early tree and serpent worship of the Dravidians in Jaina sculptures ; and the five, seven, or thousand headed nāgā is everywhere present in the Jaina temples. It is in fact, observes Fergusson, the nāgā that binds together and gives unity to the various religions of South India ; and snake images are very frequent about Jaina temples particularly in Mysore and Kanara.2 In the Chatur-mukha Basti at Gersoppa there is, among the various Digambara figures huddled together, one of Parsvanātha with a beautifully carved śeshaphana as also in the exquisite seated marble figure still worshipped at Sravaņa Belgoļa. Hindu or Brālımaņical influence is also traceable in the sculptures of Indra or Sukra, Garuda, Saraswati, Laxmi, etc.,3 striking exa'nples of which are found in the figure of Laxmi bathed by two elephants at the entrance of the great enclosure round the Gummata at Beļgoļa, and in the huge seated figure of Indrą which has given the name of Indra-sabha to one of the most interesting caves at Ellora This naturally leads us to a consideration of Jaina excavations in South India, which are perhaps more quinerous in the Bombay Division than anywhere else in the peninsula :
"The varying practical requirements of the cult of each religion, of course, had an effect on the pature of the buildings required for particular purposes," observes Smith, 4 and the striking
1. Belgaum, Bom. Gaz. XXI, pp. 540.41. 2. Cf. Fergusson, op. cit. I, pp. 42-44 and 44 n 1; ibid. II, p. 79. 3. Ibid., pp. 4-5; Bühler. Indian Sect of the Jainas, App. by
Burgess, Jaina Mythology, p. 61 f, 4. Smith, op. cit., p. 9.
| SR No. | 529551 |
| Book Title | Jain Siddhant Bhaskar |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Jain Siddhant Bhavan |
| Publisher | Jain Siddhant Bhavan |
| Publication Year | |
| Total Pages | 417 |
| Language | Hindi |
| Classification | Magazine, India_Jain Siddhant Bhaskar, & India |
| File Size | 10 MB |