Encyclopaedia of Jaina Studies Vol 01 Jaina Art and Architecture

Author(s): Sagarmal Jain, Others
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 128

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Encyclopaedia of Jaina Studies
A.D. 1185, which is also the date of the temple, has now been preserved in the Indore Museum, but its pedestal may still be seen there.
The gudhamandapa follows the horizontal lineaments of the sanctum; it is entered from the front through the mukhamandapa and from each of the lateral sides by a porch made up of two ornate octagonal pillars and two pilasters supporting a ceiling of kola courses. Each of the three doorways consists of five jambs represented by foliate scrolls, abraded and unidentified, stambha, diamond-and-rosettes, and lotus scrolls respectively. The door-lintel shows Jina figure on the lalata and the overdoor fine figures of Jaina Yaksis (Pl. 28).
The mukhamandapa consists of four pillars and four pilasters forming three bays in all. In front of the central bay is the entrance porch formed by two pillars. All the pillars are ornate and belong to octagonal order. Each bay contains an ornate ceiling.
The temple is datable to the 12 century A.D.
Gvāleśvara Temple - There is another Jaina temple at Un called Gvaleśvara which is similar on plan to the Caubārā Dera II. Though the temple is much restored, its sikhara of the Nāgara variety can still be seen.
Both the temples at Un represent a mixed variety of the Paramāra and Solanki styles.
CHHATTISGARH Chhattisgarh comprises almost of the same region which was known as Daksina Košala or Mahäkošala in ancient times. After the Imperial Guptas this region was ruled between the 6th and 8th centuries A.D. by three dynasties of Sarabhapurīyas, Panduvamśīs (Somavamśīs) and Nalas. During this period there were erected many Saiva, Vaisnava and Buddhist temples. The most notable of these is the Laksmana temple at Sirpur (Raipur district), but no evidence of Jaina affiliation from this period has come down to us. The region probably continued to enjoy the sway of the Somavasis until the latter were ousted from there by Kalingaraja, a remote descendant of Kokalla I, the founder of the Kalacuri dynasty of Tripuri, in the early 11th century
A.D. From Kalingarāja began the Ratanpur (Bilaspur district) branch of the Kalacuris which ruled in this part of the country at least up to A.D. 1218. During the Kalacuri period Jainism was certainly embraced by the people since a Jaina temple of this period stands to this day at Arang (Raipur district). ARANG
The Jaina temple at Arang known as Bhända Devala (Pl. 29) is built of sandstone and faces west. It is a Bhūmija temple located in the farthest east. The temple is in a very dilapidated condition preserving only the sanctum and the constricted vestibule, with no remains of mandapa and entrance porch. Though the sikhara of the sanctum is visible up to the finial, its west face with sukanäsa and doorway and much of its north-east and south-east faces are lost and restored in plain plaster.
The sanctum is stellate on plan with six offsets on the bhadras and six sets of two kuta-stambhas each on the karnas, all displayed from bottom to top with recesses in between them. The pitha of the sanctum, which rests on a kharasila, is high and elaborate, consisting of a tall bhitta decorated with scrolls, gajathara, aśvathara, narathara, ornate jādyakumbha, broad karnikā and gräsapatti. The vedibandha of the wall is composed of ornate mouldings of khura, kumbha, kalasa decorated with diamond-and-bead band, a pattikä adorned with diamonds alternating with rosettes, and a pattikā embellished with scrolls. The kumbha carries figures of Jaina gods and goddesses in niches on the central part, and is divided into two halves by a plain median band, the lower depicting chequer pattern and the upper left plain. The janghā, supported by a mañcikā underlined with a frieze of gagārakas, is enriched with two rows of sculptures separated by a torus on the kūtastambhas and by the cornice of the lower sculptured niche on the bhadras. The main faces of all the six bhadras show niches containing seated Jaina divinities, Yakṣīs and Vidyadevis in the lower row and Yaksas in the upper, all flanked by figures of apsarases. The kūta-stambhas carry in both the rows the figures of
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