Encyclopaedia of Jaina Studies Vol 01 Jaina Art and Architecture

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

Page 177

Jaina Temple Architecture : North India
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by a framed figure of four-armed standing goddess Acchuptă on proper right and Vairotyä on proper left, attended upon by two female figures carrying water pot or fly-whisk. Similarly, the portion above this is occupied by three lalitäsana goddesses, each with two female attendants. The doorsill is divided into two horizontal belts, the lower having moulded courses and the upper conforming to that seen in the sanctum, but the diamond on either end is replaced by a sculptured niche sheltering Sarvānubhuti on proper right and Ambikā on proper left. The door-lintel is also divided into two belts, the lower showing scroll-band of the patra-sakha and a row of hovering figures of Mālādharas, both being interrupted in the centre by the tutelary image of an unidentified male divinity, and the upper depicting child Vardhamāna in the lap of her mother Trisalā in the centre, Naigameșa and two seated goddesses on her right and a Yaksa and two seated goddesses on her left.
The interior of the gudhamandapa shows an octagonal arrangement of eight simple and plain pilasters supporting a domical ceiling on an octagonal frame of plain architraves. The dome is composed of seven circular courses pertaining to karnadardarikā, grāsapatti, padma, gajatälu, again gajatālu, eight-foil kola and quatrefoil kola scooped out with a circular kola. From the lower course of the dome project out eight square blocks of stone carved with figures of hovering Vidyadharas which originally supported eight bracket figures tenoned into the sixth course. The south wall shelters two images of kāyotsarga Jinas dated in A.D. 1061.
The mukhamandapa consists of four bays; three bays are formed across the axial line by six octagonal pillars and two five-faceted pilasters (flanking the gūdhamandapa doorway) arranged in two lines of four each and one, projecting into the rangamandapa, is formed by two very ornate square pillars. It is landed up from the rangamandapa by a flight of four steps cut into the pitha of the projecting bay. The pītha of the mukhamandapa consists of seven ornamental
mouldings of two bhittas, jadyakumbha, karņikā, antarapatta, chádyaki decorated with caitya-gavākşa pattern and gräsapatti, all polished. But the same of the projecting bay is treated like an ornate balustrade consisting of a bhitta, rūjasenaka decorated with diamondand double volute pattern, vedikā inset with richly carved upright posts alternating with recessed slabs, and an asanapatta adorned with alternate rooflets and kirttimukhas. The vedikä on each side also carries two sculptured niches sheltering Cakeśvari and Nirvani on the east and Ambikā and Sarasvati on the west. All the columns and ceilings supported by them on carved frame of architraves are highly ornamental. The ceiling in the projecting bay displays five projecting square Tūmas (pendants) in diagonal framework. Similarly, the ceiling near the gūdhamandapa door shows five depressed square lumas. These two are counted among the finest ceilings of India. The other two ceilings depict each a depressed circular lümä of eight-foil, quatrefoil and circular kolas. Two rangamandapa ceilings located on two lateral sides of the projecting bay are just the reverse of the preceding ones consisting each of eightfoil and quatrefoil kolas and a staminal tube with two rows of petals. There are two ornate but empty niches (khattakas) on two sides of the gudhamandapa door. Between the pillars in each lateral bay is a handsome cusped torana-arch.
The rangamandapa is laid out on the floor of the jagati and shows ten tall ornate pillars which, together with two pillars of the projecting bay of the mukhamandapa, are so arranged as to form a square central nave and two side aisles. Two of these pillars belong to the square order and are very ornate, while the remaining ones are octagonal and less ornate. Eight pillars, two central pillars on each side which originally carried an undulant torana-arch, form an octagon with architraves spanned across them and support a shallow but beautiful domical ceiling with a fine central pendant. The architraves are divided into two fasciae, the lower depicting lotus creepers and the upper lozenges; in the
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