ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 01

Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 250

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realized. The four cardinal directions, together with the centre, add up to the holy figure five which represents the cosmos. This mode of counting is common all over Asia and is, therefore, self explanatory.
The four shrines at the corners, which border on the courtyard, give the monument the appearance of a pañcaratha (five shrine temples). This is a form which is popular in Hindu temples too. Since these shrines have been arranged in such manner that they are located between the cardinal directions, they in turn produce the concept of the figure nine (centre of the world, cardinal directions and the directions in between). This is a very important basic, representing a mandala (cosmogram as the ground plan of the world). The ingenuity of the architect can be seen in the manner in which he combines the figures five and nine with one another.
STUDY NOTES version 5.0
Together with the extended shrines (No. 8 in the plan), the temple is surrounded by a total of eighty four devakulikās (No. 9 in the plan). It has the appearance of a classical vihāra (a temple based on the ground plan of a monastery), a common structure amongst the Jainas. The figure eighty-four is representative of the twenty-four tirthamkaras of the past, present and future, respectively., plus the so-called twelve eternal tīrthamkaras, of whom four each stand for one eon respectively. In comparison with the simplicity of the exterior, the interior is distinguished by a baroque like ornateness.
Apart from the purely ornamental and floral motifs, the Jainas also used the entire repertoire of Hindu iconography: deities, celestial musicians, danseuses, ganas (pot bellied dwarfs), elephants and maithunas (lovers) as well as stories from the great epics of the Rāmāyana and Mahābhārata. The eight dikpälas (guardians of the cardinal points) are placed on top of the pillars and the domes are typically adorned with the sixteen Jaina goddesses of Knowledge also with celestial musicians and danseuses.
If one enters the temple from the western side and looks upwards in the balana-maṇḍapa (the portal hall), one sees the kīcaka - a figure having one head and five bodies. This represents the five elements of which the material world is composed.
The portraits of the founder and of the architect are carved on the pillars of the western meghanāda-maṇḍapa (three storied hall No.4 in the plan). These portraits are almost inconspicuous; in the midst of the embellishment, together with figures of female musicians
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