Encyclopaedia of Jaina Studies Vol 01 Jaina Art and Architecture

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

Page 165

Jaina Temple Architecture : North India
143
gudhamandapa with lateral entrance porches and mukhamandapa, the whole standing on a terrace reached by a flight of steps from the front. At present, a gateway has been built at the entry point. The terrace beside the gateway supports two shrine-cells facing the temple which once probably had the images of Yaksa and Yakși of Adinātha. Its pītha and vedibandha and the two shrine-cells are original, the rest including even the whole of mukhamandapa are either rebuilt or added later.
The sanctum (Pl. 52) is tri-anga on plan, consisting of bhadra, pratiratha and karņa, the first being the longest and the last the shortest. Between the karnas and pratirathas are recesses which have not been carried down to the pitha. In elevation it shows five traditional divisions. The pitha consists of three moulded courses of a short jādyakumbha, an antarapatta and a grāsapatti, the first showing the ornament of caitya-gavākşas and the last, the kirttimukhas spewing pearl festoons tied in loops. The vedibandha consists of five usual courses of khura bearing a stripe of diamond-shaped rosettes on the lower section, kumbha, kalaša, antarapatta decorated with stepped diamonds, and kapota carrying ornaments of lotus petals on the lower part and of caitya-gavākşas on the upper. Supported by a mañcikā the janghă-wall is marked at regular intervals by a fillet decorated with half diamonds, narrow projected band, a band of kürttimukhas, narrow projected band and a band of geese. The last in its turn is successively followed by a kapota, plain stepped pediment, square bharaṇi clasped by foliage and a decorative band of stencilled leaves. The varandika, separated from the wall by a deep fillet, consists of a kapota and a ribbed eave-cornice. The jangha on each bhadra carries a sunken niche containing an image of four-armed standing male divinity. The spire, if counted from the rear side, shows a pañcaratha central tower divided into nine stages of bhūmi-amalakas, twenty-four smaller turrets and twelve shrine models clustering around it, and a framed figure of four-armed lalitsana goddess at the
base of each cardinal offset, identifiable with Cakreśvarī (south), Vairotyā (west) and Acchuptă (north). The various offsets of the spire terminate at the skandha decorated with diamonds, but the cardinal offsets have been extended to the grivä in the form of human head crowned by amalaka with fillet, fluted candrika, smaller amalaka, kalaśa and bijapūraka. The whole of the spire is plain and does not bear lattice of caitya-gavākşas. The doorframe of the sanctum is modern and the enshrined image of Adinātha seems to be a late one, but its original door is now preserved in the subterranean cella beneath the sanctum, containing an image of Pārsvanätha. This door consists of four jambs of patra, rūpa, rūpastambha and rüpa. The patrašakhā is adorned with scrolls and has a female figure carrying water pot at the base. Each rūpastambha displays a female standing with water vessel below and four two-armed lalitāsana goddesses above, and is topped by two-coursed ribbed, round abacus of lotus and cyma recta. The rūpasākhās carry figures of female dancers and musicians, two accompanying each goddess of the rüpastambha. The door-lintel continues the decorative elements of the two inner jambs, but above them it shows a sculptural panel representing five images of padmåsana Jinas in projecting niches and four of käyotsarga Jinas in alternate recesses. The door has been painted recently, vanishing thus its original form.
Articulated at the frontal karna of the sanctum the gūdhamandapa is intact with only two rear buttresses with their pitha, wall and two miniatures śikharas which are but the continuum of the sanctum, while the remaining portions including the domed roof and lateral entrance porches and the entire pillared portico of six bays have been so inadvertently repaired and painted that it is very hard to differentiate between the old and new structures. Inside the gudhamandapa are now preserved two standing images in white marble of Jinas unearthed from the nearby debris during recent years. Both are alike in form and dated in A.D. 1255.
The two shrine-cells facing the temple are each
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