Jain Journal 1984 04

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 56

APRIL, 1984
The central temple faces north and stands upto a certain height of the gandi in a precarious position. The pābhāga portion is burried underground and beneath the debris of its own tumbled blocks. The entrance opening is built of overlapping courses of stones like those of the Pakbirra temples. The huge blocks of stones heaped in front of the temple prove the existence of other structures like mukha-manḍapa etc. pre-occupying the entrance to the sanctum. As Beglar reports, it consisted of an antarāla, a mahāmaṇḍapa, an ardha-manḍapa and probably a portico.12 The stones of the main temple are of fine-grained sandstone, while those of the ruined frontal structures are of course-grained sandstone and are of different colour. Besides, there are no proofs of joints between the frontal structures and the main wall of the sanctum. It is, therefore, probable that the ruined frontal structures were later additions as we have seen in the case of Pakbirra temple.
From the mouldings of the eastern wall, it is evident that the temple was pañca-ratha on plan. The central raha of the bada consists of a rectangular niche at the base surmounted by a miniature temple of two piḍas of khurā-shaped mouldings surmounted by a beki, an àmalaka and a kalasa with leafs inset into the wall. The anurāhās are very thin, less projected and plain. The slightly recessed kanți above the baranda has a khura-shaped moulding bordered with horizontal lining projected over it. This arrangement is repeated after two courses of stone-work giving the impression of two barandas and two kāṇṭis.
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The gandi has also five divisions, but are entirely plain stone-work. The whole temple is devoid of any decoration. It is built of plain dressed stones and no mortar was used in the masonry work. It seems that originally the temple was given a coat of plaster with incised decoration over it a fragment of which is still sticking to the eastern wall.
The garbhagṛha which enshrines a finely-cut stone image of a Jaina Tirthankara, probably of Santinatha, measures 5' square. The low ceiling of the sanctum consists of six courses of over-lapping stones which meet below a square roof.
Among the two existing corner shrines, one stands in the north-east and the other in the south-west. These are same temples. Both the temples about 20' high have pañcaratha projections on the baḍa and the gandi. Mr. David Mc Cutchion has rightly pointed out that these are very similar to the temple at Harmasra in Bankura district and the temple at Charra
12 Ibid., p. 189.