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Lotus pond, Sittannavasal
Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism are the three major religions in India. Jainism branched off into two sects. The Swetambar sect has a large following in the Western and Northen India, where as the Digambar sect has a large following in the Southern India. I had the opportunity of visiting some of the major centres of Jain pilgrimage in the Southern India. I made copies of the paintings in the Sittannavasal caves in 1956. The copies can now be seen in the National Museum, New Delhi.
Sittannavasal means the abode of the Siddhas or the Yogis of the highest order. It is 350 miles away from Chennai, 33 miles from Trichinopalli and 12 miles from a small town called Pudukutta. Here in the midst of a very thick forest we have a small Digambar Jain temple carved out in black rocks. The temple was built during the reign of the Pallava king Mahendravarman (640-670). There are paintings and sculptures inside the cave temple and the idols are at the outside.
There is an idol of the Tirthankar Parshwanath sitting on the serpent in the dhyanmudra or the meditative posture. There is a sculpture of a Jain Acharya on the opposite wall. There are three idols at the innermost centre of the cave temple. There is a design on the ceiling of the open pendal, rang mandap, and the outer surfaces of the pendal have beautiful and lively paintings of lakes full of lotus flowers and lotus leaves, with fish of different sizes and shapes, and buffaloes, elephants and several pairs of swans bathing playfully in the water. There are two celestial male figures. The dancing damsels on the pillars are among the best of their kind generally portrayed in Indian paintings.
22 : Jain Kashthapat Chitra
Jain Education Intemational
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