________________
The ruins on the top of Vipula hill are dealt with only by Broadley. A few hundred yards to the Mahadeva temple in north-west existed two Jaina temples, one dedicated to Hemanta Sadhu and the other to Mahavira. A little distance away from this place there existed an enormous platform 130'x30'x6' above the rocks, on which stand four Jaina temples of recent date, in the construction of which Buddhist carvings are used. The first of the series is dedicated to Chandraprabha, the 8th Tirthankara. The second temple which is divided into two chambers is dedicated to Mahavira. The third temple is dedicated to the 20th Jaina Tirthankara, Munisuvrata who is said to have been born in Rajgir. And the fourth temple contains four caranas, which are dedicated respectively to Mahavira, Parsvanatha, Santinatha and Kunthunatha, the twenty fourth, twenty third, sixteenth and seventeenth Tirthankaras respectively.
Another interesting site sacred to the Jains in Rajgir is the Maniyara Math. The name was originally given to a small Jaina shrine built in 1780 A.D. Cunningham recovered three small figures from the surface of the Matha, one of which was a standing naked figure with a seven-headed serpent hood, looking like that of Parsvanatha.25
A cave in the Udayagiri hill contains a very ancient image of Parsvanatha with placid facial expression and expanded serpentine hoods. Behind it is the lotus seat, and the wonderful and artistically arranged coils of the snake below the lotus seat create admiration in the minds of the visitors for the forceful inspiration of the master artists of those days. A fine specimen of art, this image has seven snakes with their hoods spread at the back of the head. The eyes, ears, nose and lips are very finely executed and the bend of the hands joined together, and at base on the feet padmasana and the finely chislled body are remarkable specimens of anciant sculpture."
26
From the above study it would appear that Rajgir was an active centre of Jainism in ancient times as it is now, where interesting remains of Jaina shrines and sculptures are still extant. Jainism continues to inspire its devotees in large numbers from different parts of the country to visit the various shrines on top of the five hills of Rajgir.
150
Jain Education International
Shri Vijyanand Suri Swargarohan Shatabdi Granth
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
