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History of Jainism with Special Reference to Mathura
love of the picturesque that prompted the Jainas to build their temples on hilltops. 400 The Jainas not only erected temples; they also built temple-cities - cities consisting of temples alone — picturesquely situated on the hills of Girnar in Kathiawad and Satruñjaya or Palitana in Gujarat.401 Other picturesquely situated Jaina temple groups are at Ranapur in Jodhpur and Parasnatha in Bengal.402 The Jaina temples were built in an ornate style. The Jaina temples of Gujarat and Mount Abu in Rajasthan were built in an ornate style. The Jaina passion for ornamentation reached its peak in the temples of west India. The Jaina temples in Karnataka are almost equally ornate in a different fashion.403
The exquisite temples of Mount Abu, built in the western or Gujarati 404 or the Maru Gurjar style, 405 a beautiful variation of the north Indian or the Indo-Aryan style407, are the most notable achievements of the Jainas in the domain of art.408 The Jaina temples at Mount Abu are deservedly famous. 109 The most outstanding of the Jaina temples at Mount Abu are the Vimal Shah and the Tejpala temples which were constructed in AD 1032 and AD 1232 respectively.410 Built entirely of white marble these temples are domed shrines with pillared halls. 411 These are the finest models of this style; the beauty and delicay of carving and the richness of designs in both these temples are
400. HIEA, p. 240. 401. HIEA, pp. 226 ff; A.K. Coomaraswamy, History of Indian and Indonesian Art, 1927, p.
112.
402. A.K. Commaraswamy, op. cit., pp. 112-13. 403. HOFA, Introduction, p. 11. 404. Ibid., and p. 32. 405. AJAA, p. 319. 406. HOFA, p. 32. 407. Ibid. 408. Ibid., Introduction, p. 11. 409. A.K. Coomaraswamy, op. cit., p. 111. 410. Ibid. 411. Ibid.
