Encyclopaedia of Jaina Studies Vol 01 Jaina Art and Architecture

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

Page 86

CHAPTER V
JAINA TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE : NORTH INDIA
The Jaina temple is generally called Jinälaya or vihara in North India and basadi or basti in South. The Jainas had not evolved their own style of temple architecture but followed what was prevalent in the Brahmanical tradition. The temple in Brahmanical tradition is a symbol of the universe conceived in terms of human body. The names of various limbs of human body from its foot to the crown of the head, viz. feet, legs, thighs, chest, shoulder, neck and head, are actually applied to different parts of the temple. As the body becomes lifeless without the inhabitant soul, so the temple is useless for worship if the life-ceremony (prāṇapratistha) of the principal image (Tirthankara in case of Jaina temple and a deity in that of Brahmanical temple) is not performed in the sanctum. To perform the rituals and other ceremonial works the sanctum is provided with other compartments.
The sanctum is always a dark chamber enclosed by solid walls and its interior is dimly lit by flickering flames of a lamp. This suggests that the divine spirit or immortal soul installed in the sanctum is illumining the enveloped universe. If the sanctum is a microcosm, the whole temple is a macrocosm of the universe inhabited by gods, demi-gods, human beings, and birds and animals represented on the facade of the temple. Hence the temple is meritorious not only to the visitor but also to its builder.
The construction of temples, mostly structural, began from the age of the Imperial Guptas. Before that, the religious needs of the people were generally fulfilled by the stupas and caityagṛhas, both structural and rockcut. During the Gupta period we notice different types of temples which took their forms from the already existent buildings. But as we pass on the next period when, after the death of Harṣa of Kannauj in about A.D. 647, the Gurjara Pratihāras of Kannauj, the Palas of
Bengal and the Raṣṭrakūtas of the Deccan were fighting among themselves for the paramountancy of their power, we find new architectural trends in the contemporary Jaina temples of central and western India located at Osian, Pithaora, Deogadh, Gyaraspur etc., and earlier in the Meguti temple at Aihole. After these three powers went off the scene, a large number of strong dynasties came to power and carved out their independent principalities. In spite of wars among themselves and the Muslim onslaughts from outside, the architectural activities continued to flourish in full swing and a large number of both big and small temples were produced in every nook and cranny of the country, bearing of course local trends and mannerism. This was the period when regional idioms became fully established and we can even trace their evolution in a particular region itself. After the downfall of the indigenous rule at the end of the 12th century A.D. in North India and 13th century A.D. in South India, the country passed in the hands of the Muslim rulers, but the architectural activities went on unabated with usual fervour following purely the indigenous traits.
The Jaina temples of India may be divided into two broad groups of North and South, with the Vindhya mountain as the dividing line. Each group has a large number of Jaina temples bearing their own traits. Before the description of temples it is worthwhile to give a brief outline of the politico-cultural background of the contemporary period and the general architectural features of temples, so that one can gain an insight into the subject.
The actual examples of Jaina temples of the period under review hail from Bihar, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajsthan and Gujarat, probably these regions were the main concentration of Jaina population during this period. The Jaina temples