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History of Jainism with Special Reference to Mathurā
incised on the back of a broken sculptured torana records the gift of a temple by Dhāmghosā, a female disciple of venerable Jayasena. 161 This inscription has been dated to about the beginning of the Christian era. 162 Because two Jaina temples were discovered from Kankālī Tīlā, the natural inference from these inscriptions is that one of them was built before 150 BC, and the other about the beginning of the Christian era. 163
Most of the Jaina inscriptions which came to light in 1889 were discovered from the central temple at Kankālī Pīlā. 164 According to Fuhrer, this temple belonged to the Svetāmbara sect. 165 He formed this opinion on the basis of two inscribed images dated vs 1038 and vs 1134.166 The images discovered from the site of this temple are, however, nude.167 According to Fuhrer, the second or western Jaina temple, which was excavated in 1889-90, belonged to the Digambara sect, and the finds of 1890 were discovered mainly from the site of this temple. 168
Fuhrer conducted his excavations at Kankālī Tīlā in an extremely negligent manner. Therefore, no account of his researches at Kankālī Tīlā is available; the only exception is the meagre information which is embodied in his Museum Reports for those years. 169 It is because of this negligence that V.A. Smith could not indicate the spots where these temples stood at Kankālī Tīlā when he published the plan of this site in his book.170 The two Jaina temples built at
161. EL, II, no. 4 and Plate: EI, X, Appendix, Lüders List no. 99, JAA, I, pp.51-2: SML no.
J.540. 162. JS, Introduction, p. 3; JAA, I, pp. 51-2. 163. Ibid., Introduction, p. 3. 164. Ibid., p. 6. 165. Ibid. 166. Ibid. 167. Ibid. 168. Ibid. 169. ASIAR, 1906-7, pp. 140-1. 170. JS, p. 8. Plate I; MI, p. 41.
