Encyclopaedia of Jaina Studies Vol 01 Jaina Art and Architecture

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

Page 26

Encyclopaedia of Jaina Studies
the number would not be in hundreds but in thousands, in spite of the fact that a large number of them were destroyed during the course of time. It is, therefore, worthwhile enumerating those factors which were responsible for their spoliation. The first and foremost is the natural one caused by earthquake, torrential rainfall etc. The second is foreign and continental invasions led by the bigoted Muslims who not only destroyed the religious Jaina buildings but also plundered them ruthlessly and converted them into mosques. Sometimes, the Muslims purposely dismantled the Jaina shrines to procure building materials for the construction of their mosques and tombs. The third is the internal disturbance caused by religious rivalry. Take for instance the case of the Solanki king Ajayapala who being a staunch Saiva persecuted the Jainas and destroyed their temples. The fourth is the philanthropic outlook of the Jainas who, out of zeal for preservation, have so inadvertently repaired and altered their religious buildings that their originality has considerably been marred. This is due to the fact that in Jaina tradition to build or rebuild a temple or to place an image therein was considered to be a highly meritorious act since it would secure them benefits here and hereafter. However repaired the Jaina buildings are, the Jainas must be commended for their philanthropic attitude for preserving monuments, because it was the result of this that the Jaina buildings are well-preserved to this day, retaining of course many restorations and alterations.
In the description of Jaina buildings the original Sanskrit and Prakrit words have been used to denote the various components of the building. This has to be done because the English synonyms of Indian words do not always carry the appropriate meaning. For clarification, however, a glossary has been appended at the end of the Volume.
All the Jaina buildings of the period under reference are indigenous in their origins and development and bear no testimony of foreign influence, notwithstanding
the fact that India had to face many outside inroads led from time to time by the Persians, Greeks, Sakas, Pahlavas, Kuşāņas, Hūņas and the Muslims. The reason behind this was that, except for the Muslims, all of these tribes completely merged in the Indian society and adopted the latter's customs and beliefs. The Muslims, on the other hand, always maintained their independent entity and forcibly spread Islam in the subcontinent treating Indians as infidels because of the latter being idolaters. In the field of architecture also, the Muslims introduced a building style of their own consisting of mosque and tomb, which were built on the principle of true arch and dome. Although such buildings as these started making their appearance with the foundation of the Muslim rule in northern India in c. A.D. 1200 as exemplified by the Adhāi-dina-ka-Jhoprā at Ajmer (Rajsthan) which is nothing but a Jaina temple converted into a mosque, the construction of Jaina temples was continued without any modification in the indigenous style, and it is only after the 13th century A.D. that the Islamic traits such as arch, dome, merlon etc. are seen in the Jaina temples.
in the construction of Jaina temples well-dressed and finely jointed ashlars of various shapes and sizes have been used for the facing and rough-dressed stones for the hearting. The courses are laid dry one upon the other and kept in position by their weight and balance. The different courses of the wall up to the top of the plinth are splayed out by offsetting to counteract the lateral thrust, while the perpendicular walls are made solid or accommodate balconied windows and stone trellis with an overhanging cornice. The roofing is worked out by horizontal arch and dome and not by vertical arch of radiating voussoirs which was prevalent in the Roman and Western architecture. The simplest mode of roofing a small square space supported by four pillars is merely to run a stone beam from each pillar and cover the intermediate opening by a plain stone slab. In the second stage when the square space is
Jain Education Intemational
dication Intemational