Encyclopaedia of Jaina Studies Vol 01 Jaina Art and Architecture

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

Page 33

Architectural Data in the Jaina Canons
hall polished (ghattha-mattha) and well-set with pillars adorned with Sālabhanjikä figures, latticed windows (jala), moonstone at the foot of the stairway (addhacaída), projecting ledges (nijjüha), and a room on the roof (caídasăliyā). Its exterior was white-washed (dhūmiya), the interior was decorated with paintings (cittakamma), the floor was studed with semi-precious stones (mani), and the ceiling had a painted canopy (ulloyacittiya) decorated with lotus flowers and creepers (paumalayā). Its doorways were beautifully adorned with auspicious golden pitchers, lotus flowers and necklaces of pearls and jewels.
The Jaina canons also make mention of siyahara (cold-house) which was used in summer, bhumihara (subterranean house), and of such halls as vāgharanasālā (wedding hall), attaņasälä (hall for gymnastic exercises), nhānamamdava (bath-room), uvatthānasālā (attendance hall) and posahasäla (fasting hall) (see, J.C. Jain, Life in Ancient India as Depicted in Jaina Canons, pp. 189-90)
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE
There are three types of religious buildings, viz. stūpa (caitya), layaņa (cave) and Jinalaya (Jina shrine). Of these the stupa has been copiously dealt with in the Jaina canons, but the other two are rarely mentioned therein, probably because the early Jaina caves were excavated just for the stay of Jaina monks, while the later ones as well as the Jaina shrines, a place where the Jaina monks used to stay and do worship, being posterior to the time of the redaction of the Jaina canons find no mention of them.
Stūpa - The stūpa, Prakrit thūbha and Hindi thūhā, was a mound of earth raised on the cremation ground after collecting the bone relics of a deceased person to commemorate his nirvana or death. It was also known as caitya because it was piled up on the site of the funeral pyre (citā). There was a practice also to mark the spot of cremation by planting a tree there. The association of caitya with tree (vrksa) was termed caitya- vrkșa. But the caitya-vrkșa was not confined to the
cremation ground only. Tree-worship was, and still is, in vogue in India and the tree like Pipala was considered sacred for worship. All the Jaina Tirthankaras are, in fact, known to have attained their omniscience under a certain tree, and hence the trees of their association are worshipful. This is exemplified in the relief carvings of the rock-cut Jaina caves at Udayagiri-Khandagiri (Orissa). Similarly, an edifice housing a caitya (stūpa) is called caityagrha, a type of shrine which the Buddhists embraced the most. The original tumulus (anda) of earth served as a core for later encasing, first by baked bricks and then by stone with or without a ground railing (vedika) and gateways (toranadvāra), replacing probably the original wooden ones.
The literary reference to stupa goes back to the time of the Rgveda (7.2.1) where the flaming pile of Agni's light is spoken of as a stūpa, but the actual monument of Brahmanical affiliation is still wanting, probably it was abandoned long back and the evidences were eroded away by the lapse of time.
On having been asked by his chief disciple Ananda, the Tathāgata Buddha enjoined to raise stūpa on the remains of the Tathāgata as was being done in case of the Cakravartin King. The stūpas, according to the Buddhist tradition, were of three kinds (1) Säririka (bodily relic), (2) Uddesika (stūpas erected for the sake of the Buddha) and (3) Päribhogika (stūpas erected over the articles of Buddha's personal use, e.g. Bodhimanda, begging bowl etc.). Apart from these, there were made votive stūpas just as an object of worship. The Buddhist texts like Mahāvamsa also contains a vivid account about the construction of a stupa. Thus, it seems almost mandatory for the Buddhists to erect stūpa and worship it.
As regards the Jaina tradition, the Acaranga (12.1.3.3.) which is taken to be the earliest Jaina canonical text by the Svetāmbaras speaks of caityakstavrkșa and caityakrta-stūpa, meaning a tree planted on the spot of the funeral pyre and a stūpa raised on the
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