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History of Jainism with Special Reference to Mathurā
from 150 BC to 50 BC.436 The interiors of the Jaina caves of Orissa are austerely plain, but the facades of some of the caves are richly decorated.437 Ränigumphā is the most spacious and elaborately carved of all Orissan caves.438
The Jainas were also associated with the construction of the stūpas. Jaina traditions refer to the practice of erecting stūpas over the ashes of the jinas.439 The prejudice that all stūpas and railings must necessarily be Buddhist has probably prevented the recognition of Jaina structures as such, and upto the present day only two undoubted Jaina stūpas have been recorded. 140 One Jaina stūpa existed at Vaiśālī, and this was dedicated to the jina Munisuvrata.441 The other Jaina stūpa was the celebrated stūpa at Kaňkāli Tīlā, Mathurā. To the history and architecture of this stūpa we shall turn later in this book.
436. SIJA, p. 7. 437. JAA, I, p. 82. 438. SIJA, p. 7. 439. Ibid., p. 9. 440. IGI, II, p. 111. 441. SIJA, p. 62, JAA, I, Editorial, p. 7.
