Jain Center of America NY 2005 06 Pratishtha

Author(s): Jain Center of America NY
Publisher: USA Jain Center America NY

Page 101

4th floor in the conservatory (Dadawadi). The 4th floor being the top floor has a skylight and front windows giving a semblance of openness to the sky. This was the best location for Ashtapad.
Shri Ashtapad Maha Tirth (PAT at Jaipur, India)
Now an architectural design was developed to a scale based on the available space. The original Ashtapad is omni-directional (four-sided) but space constraints forced us to make a unidirectional unit viewable only from the front. The height & width of the mountain was determined according to the space available in the conservatory.
Based on the religious verse, idol positions were determined for a unidirectional unit in 4 horizontal rows, one above the other. Dimensions of the idols will depend on the available space in each row. The next step was to carve suitable niches in the mountain for each row and position the idols inside the niches. Each niche will have a base, an arch, and a dome that resembles a small Gokhala. In the final unit, the front part of the Gokhalas will be sculpted in the mountain itself.
Baba Lalalala
ADDBOOK
vat?? Per
PEAL
SAMALL
COMPLETE MOUNTAIN SECTION
Model Making
A series of progressive prototypes were developed to experiment with various materials, layouts, designs and dimensions. These prototypes also helped in visualizing the ultimate design of the model of Shri Ashtapad. The first two original prototypes were flat, made out of serpentine stone. In the initial models, idols were installed in the individual Gokhalas, carved in the mountain. Initially, stories were carved as two-dimensional units at the base in front of the mountain in first two prototypes. As the concept matured, eight of these carvings depicting various stories were carved into three-dimensional units, which will be located in front of the mountain.