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68
Gommafeśvara Commemoration Volume
Contributions of Bhattārakas :
The Bhattārakas, throughout their long history, contributed a great deal to the advancement in various fields of culture of the region. Their lasting contribution can be seen in the development of several arts like architecture, sculpture, painting, music, dance and drama. They encouraged their rich followers to construct new temples in large numbers and they personally officiated at the image installation ceremonies of these temples. It is reported that in 1492 A. D. Bhattāraka Jinacandra installed more than one thousand images at a single ceremony held at Muçasā in Rajasthan and that these images were later on sent to a large number temples all over India On the same lines it can be noted that Bhattaraka Laxmisena (1896-1965 A.D.) of Kolhapur officiated at 59 major image-installation ceremonies from different parts of India. The images installed were of various deities of different metals and stones, and of several sizes. The temples and Mathas were decorated with paintings and the image installation and other religious ceremonies were usually accompanied with different performances of music, dance, and drama The Matha also was a centre of cultural activities throughout the year. In this way the Bhattārakas were indirectly responsible in giving patronage to the cultivation of various arts.
In the field of literature, the contributions of Bhattārakas have been really impressive. Their main literary works have been in the forms of epics, stories and texts for worship. They also wrote on serious subjects like grammar, prosody, logic, metaphysics, mathematics, astrology, medicine and other allied sciences. Their compositions are found in classical languages like Sanskrit, Prakrit and Apabhramsha and in regional languages like Hindi, Rajasthani, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada and Tamil. By their valuable literary works the Bhattārakas contributed not only to the enrichment of literature but also to the growth of different regional languages.
In the field of learning, the Bhattārakas made monumental contributions. By various means they turned their Mathas into the central seats of learning in the region They used their Mathas as 'Grantha-bhāņdāras', i.e., book-houses, which were virtually treasure-houses of knowledge. In these Bhāņdāras they assiduously preserved a large number of manuscripts written on paper or plam leaves by both Jaina and non-Jaina scholars and in different languages on various religious and scientific subjects. In addition to the preservation of knowledge, they also helped in the spread of knowledge by making specific arrangements to copy the manuscripts and to distribute the manuscripts to several places: Further, the Mathas were used as schools where permanent provisions were made to impart regular training to Jaina priests and general instructions to all students. There are many cases where non-Jaina students came to receive learning from Bhattārakas. The names of Muslim Hāji, Saiva Madhava and Dvija Viśvanātha are notable in this respect.
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