Jaina Archaeological Heritage of Tamilnadu

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

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JAINA ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE OF TAMILNADU
The themes were now more detailed and less symbolic with efforts to capture the minute details of the stories of the Tirthankaras in their different births. This also served to help the Jains save their mythological and artistic heritage for posterity.
In this brief study of the Jaina paintings of the Tamil country, we see how these paintings bear testimony to contribution of the Jains to the artistic traditions of the Tamil land. We are also able to understand how the Jains adopted paintings as a means to express spiritual and religious tenets which every person should aspire for, in a manner which appealed both to lay worshippers and men of merit.