Encyclopaedia of Jaina Studies Vol 01 Jaina Art and Architecture

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

Page 45

CHAPTER IV
ROCK-CUT JAINA ARCHITECTURE
Jainism, like Buddhism, being a monastic religion enjoins on its followers to lead a life of mendicants for the attainment of liberation from the transmigration of rebirth. These mendicants lived on alms and used to stay in the natural caverns or in such abodes which lay far from the residential areas. Such abodes as these suited them well for meditation and other religious practices. In the beginning these caverns and some such hermitages as Yakṣāyatanas sufficed their needs, but when the mendicants increased in number, the caves were excavated as well in the rocky hills for their retreats. Subsequently, the caves were also adorned with figure sculptures and decorative patterns.
We know at present of about 150 Jaina caves that were hewn from time to time in different parts of the country. Architecturally, they may be divided into two groups - monastery and shrine, the former being the dwelling caves made for the Jaina recluses to live in and do the penance, and the latter the religious sanctuaries containing the Jina images for worship. All the early Jaina caves that are so far known to us are monastic resorts since they do not possess Jina images, and if they have them at all, e.g. the Khandagiri caves in Orissa, the images of such caves were carved later than the excavation of the caves, while all the later caves the excavation of which began from the early 5th century A.D. have been worked out like temples, fulfilling both the residential and religious needs.
The history of the rock-cut Jaina caves, if we leave aside the natural caverns, begins from the age of the Mauryas who united nearly the whole of India into one great kingdom and extended their support to all the religious sects including also the Jaina. This is evidently known from two Jaina caves at Rajgir (Bihar) which are contemporaneous with the Ajivaka caves at
Barabar and Nagarjuni excavated by emperor Asoka and his grandson Dasaratha in the 3rd century B.C. It was perhaps Samprati, another grandson of Asoka, who inspired the Jaina excavation at Rajgir because the Jaina texts speak as high of him as the Buddhist do of Asoka. From the end of the Mauryan rule to the rise of the Imperial Guptas (c. 200 B.C.-300 A.D.) the northern part of India was chiefly governed by the Sungas and the Kuşāņas, while the southern part was ruled by the Sätavāhanas and the Ikşväkus. This period envisages a political turmoil caused by the external and internal inroads, but the building activity went on unabated during the entire period of time. Another point worthy of note at this time is that Jainism spread from its epicenter in Bihar to other parts of the country. This is apparently known from the provenance of Jaina caves hewn during this period. Thus a cave small in size was excavated at Pabhosa (U.P.) for the residence of Jaina monks. In the twin hills of Udayagiri-Khandagiri (Orissa) the Cedi king Khăravela and his royalty excavated as many as 33 dwelling caves for the Jaina monks. Such a long series of Jaina caves was excavated neither earlier nor later. In a hill at Junagadh, a group of fifteen Jaina caves was excavated during the times of the Ksatrapas.
During the Gupta-Väkäțaka age (c. 300-600 A.D.) the country emerged as a strong political and economic power; there was peace and tranquility in the kingdom; and the kings had very liberal outlook towards all the religious sects of the period. Under the impact of such a healthy atmosphere therefore we naturally find an upsurge in all the branches of knowledge. In the field of art and architecture this is visualized in the form of structural temples. The image-worship, which had since been prohibited inside the rock-cut caves, was
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