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Jain Influence of the Architecture of Gujrat
The earliest buildings in India to which an approximate date can be assigned is the stupa at Piprchu in the Nepal frontier. It was probably built about 450 B. C. soon after the demise of the Buddha or Gautama Sakyamuni.
This monument is of engineering rather than of architectural skill. In fact, the history of Indian architecture may be said to begin with the reign of Asoka or about the 3rd century B. C.
We need not for the present take notice of the above mentioned pre-historic antiquities. The earliest known buildings in India are associated with Buddhism, no doubt.
Regarding the construction of a stupa it does not appear to be quite safe to assert that it was originally only Buddhist. Very old remains of stupas and their representations have been unearthed from the Kankali tila, Muttra, which are decidedly Jaina in origin. They could not have come all of a sudden. All the old religions of India, Brahmanism, Jainism. and Buddhism must have drawn on a common storehouse of symbolic and conventional devices. The Jains did erect the stupas surrounded by stone-railings enshrining the corporal remains of their saints in them as did the Buddhists in very early days as is evidenced by the remains found from Muttra. Naturally each religion would try to compete with the other in every good feature. But I am not concerned with the very early days of the history of architecture in India.
We are now concerned with Gujarat. Here very many important monuments are decidedly Jaina or constructed by Jain Seths or millionaires. The world-famous Dilwada temples which cost crores of rupees were built by the Jains undoubtedly. The sraddha of the Jains for their shrines and Pratimas is well known. The Jains were much more given to temple-building than the Hindus. They attach special merit to the construction of a sanctuary and to the dedications of images of Jinas or Tirthankaras. As they were great temple--builders in Western India or Gujarat, they had in their possession the old works on civil and religious architecture such as the Prasad mandana,
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[ Shree Atmaramji
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