________________
JAIN ART AND ARCHITECTURE.
In the opinion of Col. Tod. "Their (Jains) arts like their religion, were of a character quite distinct from those of Shiva. The temple of Mahavira at Nadole, (Marwar) the last of their twenty-four apostles, is a very fine piece of Architecture. Its vaulted roof is a perfect model of the most ancient style of dome in the East, probably invented anterior to the Romans.” The famous Jain temples on Mount Abu, are triumphs of Architecture; the delicacy and richness of their carvings are unsurpassed in the whole world. As for the antiquity of Jain architecture, the excavation. of Kankali Tilla near Mathura, establishes it without any doubt that the erection of the Stupas must have taken place several centuries before the Christian Era and according to Western Scholars, these are perhaps the oldest buildings in India. Formerly the Jains used to build Stupas as imitated by the Buddhists and their ancient relief sculptures are also well-known. They were the greatest temple-builders in Western India. The great Jain Temple on the Shatrunjoy Hills near Palitana in Kathiawar as already
701
