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144
History of Jainism with Special Reference to Mathurā
that the Jainas of Mathurā were Svetāmbaras, and that the schism which divided the Jainas into two sects occurred long before the beginning of the Christian era.178
It is necessary to make mention of three tirthamkara images excavated from Kankālī Tīlā for an examination of Fuhrer's view. Excavations conducted at this mound brought to light two colossal images of tirthamkara Padmaprabhanātha dated vs 1038 and vs. 1134,179 corresponding to AD 981 and AD 1077 respectively,180 and an image of four-fold Vardhamāna fashioned in vs 1080, corresponding to AD 1023.181 According to Fuhrer, these inscribed images of Padmaprabhanātha came from the central temple at Kankālī Tīlā, 182 and were donative gifts of the Svetāmbara community.183 The four-fold image of Vardhamāna was discovered from the site of the second temple, which according to Nagari inscriptions was in the hands of the Digambara community as late as vs 1080 or AD 1023.184
Buhler derived his conclusions on two grounds. The first of the two Jaina temples excavated from Kankāli Tīlā was assigned to the second century BC, and the second to about the beginning of the Christian era. Because Fuhrer described one of these two temples as a Svetāmbara and the other as a Digambara edifice, Buhler thought that the split in the Jaina community occurred long before the beginning of the Christian era, and not in the first or second century AD. Inscriptions have revealed that the Jaina community of Mathurā was divided into sections called gana, śākhã and kula.185 Because
178. OISJ, p. 44. 179.JS, Introduction, pp. 2-3 and Plates XCV and XCVI; A. Fuhrer, North-Western
Provinces and Oudh, Monumental Antiquities and Inscriptions, 1891, p. 106. 180. Ibid., Introduction, p. 2 fn 2. 181. Ibid., p. 47 Figure 3. 182. Ibid., Introduction, p. 6. 183. A. Fuhrer, op. cit., p. 106; JS, Introduction, p. 6. 184. JS, Introduction, p. 6. 185. OISJ, pp. 42-3.
