Jain Spirit 2003 12 No 17

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 26

FEATURES
UNCOMPROMISING BEAUTY
Dr. L. M. Singhvi demonstrates the spirit of idealism in temple architecture
TROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF ART AND R architecture, the temples of Mount Abu and Ranakpur are
1 the veritable wonders of the world. The incredibly beautiful Dilwara and Ranakpur temples in Rajasthan, the temples in Palitana, Tarangaji and Kumhariaji in Gujarat represent a unique efflorescence of Jain temple architecture at its best and remind us of the golden age of the Jain tradition in Rajasthan and Gujarat with parallels in central and south India. Jain sculpture of that period merged into architecture and became a part of the precincts with a presiding Tirthankara and other Tirthankara images. Though the Tirthankara iconography followed a set pattern, the accessory sculptures were executed stylistically with greater freedom and artistry.
Shatrunjaya and the temples at Ranakpur, Shri Taranga Tirtha and Shri Kumhariaji. To quote Dr. Pal, "the Jain patrons of Rajasthan and Gujarat seem to have been particularly sensitive to refined carving with a high finish, turning every temple into a delicately rendered ornament as if created by a goldsmith." Referring to the Dilwara temples, Pereira says, “the love of supple and graceful brackets, slender arches and light domed interiors of the Rajasthani and Gujarati architects possessed the Jain hearts of those territories, ...and impelled them to chisel out of marble those configurations of white tracery which are the temples of Abu." Ranakpur, the great fifteenth century Jain temple complex is perhaps one of the most elaborate examples of the celestial assembly halls of the Jinas (samvasarana) with exquisitely carved ceilings and pillars and unique geometric proportions.
The temple cities of Girnar and Shatrunjaya were ravaged by Muslim invaders but were replaced and rebuilt. Girnar is sacred to the memory of the twenty-second Tirthankara, Aristanemi or Neminath.
Shatrunjaya, like Girnar, Parsvanath Hill and Mount Abu, is one of the most sacred hills of the Jain tradition. The first Tirthankara, Lord Adinath Rsabha is said to have visited it ninety nine purvas of times before his nirvana. According to one tradition, all the Jinas except Neminath visited Shatrunjaya. It bears close resemblance to the Ajitnath (the second Tirthankara) temple at Taranga built by the Jain Chalukya ruler Kumarapala in 1164 AD, which is similar to the Neminath temple at Girnar. The Taranga Tirtha temple (near Mehsana) is highly decorative and is based on a lofty conception. It has had Digambara and Shvetambara associations as well as Buddhist antecedents.
The five Jain temples and a Siva temple in Kumharia, also called Arasana, are from the eleventh to the thirteenth century. Built of local marble under the patronage of the imperial Chalukya-Solankis of Gujarat, the Kumharia temples near Ambaji represent Maru-Gurjara or the composite Rajasthan-Gujarat style. The temples are consecrated to Adinath, Santinath, Sambhavanath, Neminath, Parsvanath and Vardhaman Mahavir. Since these temples were not located on the main route, they escaped the destructive iconoclasm of the Muslim invaders, whereas the temples in Dilwara on Mount Abu were desecrated c. 1313 AD. According to Professor Dhaky and Dr. U.S. Moorti, the spectacular interiors of the Jain ensemble of temples at Kumharia are more ancient than those in the Dilwara temples. The variety and the richness of their columns and the ceilings are a match to the Dilwara temples in architectural and sculptural aesthetic.
Mount Abu, Rajasthan
The medieval Jain shrines were meant to serve, in the words of Mr. M.C. Joshi, as the fountainhead of bliss. the embodiment of supreme virtue and monuments of glory with their structural and sculptural magnificence and grand ceremonials, as well as centres for arts and socio-cultural life. According to Goetz, "medieval sculpture achieved a sweet original beauty towards the end of the tenth century, a classical maturity in the eleventh century, an elegant mannerism in the twelfth century, sinking slowly into baroque and rococo and over-elaboration during the late twelfth century." According to Dr. Pratapaditya Pal, the three centuries from around 1000 AD to 1300 AD may be regarded as a sort of golden age for Indian temple architecture. During that period Jain temples were built at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, Ellora in Maharashtra and at various places in Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat.
Although Muslim conquerors recklessly destroyed some of the finest Jain temples in Rajasthan and Gujarat, what remains, or that which came by way of replacement, is human heritage of greatest excellence. The hallmark samples are the marble temples at Mount Abu, the temple cities of Girnar and
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Jain Spirit . December 2003 - February 2004
PHOTO: DINODIA