________________
No. III
JAINA ART IN SOUTH INDIA
61
paucity of Jaina caves, as compared with either Buddhist' or Brāhmanical ones, is a strong commentary upon those who adver: sely reflect upon the ascetic nature of the Jaina religion. The importance attached to the lay community, as well as the active part played in wordly life by the Jaina monks, must largely account for the fact that although like the Buddhists tlie Jainas had a monastic organisation "it never attained power like that of the Buddhist order”. 1 As Burgess has pointed out, the Jaina caves in Western India do no exceed 4 per cent. of the whole. The figures given by him are: Buddhist 720; Brāmaņical 160 ; and Jaina only 33. The earliest of these belong to the Bth or Bth Century A.D. and the latest perhaps to the 12th century A. D. They are all Digambara, and include one or two very fine specimeris. Like the 'Brahmanicai caves they are also built after the plan of the Buddhist vihāras, probably " as a means of pressing their candidature for a larger share of popular favour."Chotā Kailās or smaller Kailās, at Ellora, is a curious example of the imitation of the works of one sect by the votaries of another “For there can be no doubt,” says Burgess, " this was undertaken in imitation of the great Brāmaņical temple of Kailāsa, but on a much smaller scale." He also adds, “these two temples cannot be far distänt in date' (9th cent. A.D.) 3
By far the most interesting caves of the Jainas in this part of the country are of course, the gr ups calleil the Indra Sabhā and Jagannātha Sabhā. They constitute a maze of excavations learling from one into another, and Havell observes.-" The name of the two temples, and the orientation of their shrines indicate that unlike most of the other shrines at Ellora, it was not the tamasic aspect of the Trimūrti that was here invoked, but the blessings of the Rain God, represented by Vishnu the preserver and his sakti, Laxmi, the bringer of prosperity. Only as the temples belonged to the Jaina sect they appealed specially to their saints, the Tirthankaras, to whoin analogous divine powers were attri
1. Cf. Ibid., p. 11. 2. Burgess. Cave Temples of India, pp. 170-71, 3. Ibid., pp. 495-96
