Jaina Archaeological Heritage of Tamilnadu

Author(s): A Ekambarnathan
Publisher: Bharat Varshiya Digambar Jain Mahasabha

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JAINA ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE OF TAMILNADU
and yaksis like Padmavati and Jwalamalini, both executed in blue in the Malainatha temple at Melsittamur, suggesting that the artists were also diversifying the themes of their paintings, which by now was totally conventionalised and standardised. Only yaksis and yaksas and the Samavasarana were drawn, rarely symbols of the Jaina religion were drawn along with explanations. The paintings have become more educative in nature, with lesser aesthetic values in the previous and present centuries.
As we go through a brief survey of Jaina paintings in the Tamil country, we can see changing trends in the Jaina paintings over the various periods. From the available paintings which have with stood the ravages of time, we are able to discern that at different periods, different aspects of the religion were highlighted.
For instance, at the Armamalai and Sittannavasal caves, it is a reflection of the monastic nature of the religion with emphasis on the divine discourse of the Lord and on what the Jaina religion stood for in the Pallava and Pandya periods.
But in Tirumalai, the paintings within a temple complex are more conventionalised and bear evidences of the format which was being standardised in the Cola - Vijayanagar transitional phase. We also notice a fresh theme in the form of the story of Ambika yaksi was introduced in this period, again reflecting the changes that were slowly creeping into the Jaina religion. By the 16th century A.D., the Jaina religion had emerged as more stronger entity which had strong monastic orders as well as powerful groups of lay followers which included nobility, kings, queens, generals and ministers, apart from common people. The aspirations
of these devotees were also changing with the times.