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CHAPTER 27]
CENTRAL INDIA
the river-goddesses, the Nava-grahas and foliage-work are also exquisitely done. The images of Ādinātha and Sarasvati and other deities have been tastefully carved. Near Tikamgarh the other two sacred Jaina centres are Papaura and Navgarba.
Dronagiri, in Chhatarpur District, is another important siddha-kşetra. It has thirty Jaina shrines on hillocks commanding the scenic beauty of the area. The temples were constructed here between 1483 and 1539.
Sonāgiri, Nainagiri, Garha, Golakot, Pajnari and Ajaigarh are other sites worth mention where Jaina art and architecture grew up during the period. At Ajaigarh, District Panna, in the reign of the Candella king Viravarman, a remarkable image of śāntinātha was enshrined in 1279. The work of construction continued here till later times.
At Naunia, near village Barhata in Narsinghpur District, are seen colossal statues of Adinātha, Candraprabha and Mahavira. The site was a Jaina centre from the eleventh to fourteenth centuries.
Apart from the stone images, metal images of a few Tirthankaras, particularly Adinátha, Pārsvanātha and Mahāvira, were cast during the period. Images in metal were also made of goddesses Sarasvati, Ambikā, Cakreśvari, etc. They were made of gold, silver, așța-dhatu or bronze. These are preserved in various temples, and the museums at Gwalior, Indore, Raipur, Dhubela and Nagpur.
The contribution of Jaina saints and Acāryas to the development of Jaina religion and fine arts has already been referred to. They gave an impetus to the advancement of learning through the media of literature, oral preaching and visual arts.
Among the saints of the period Acārya Tăraņa-Tarana-ji occupies a towering place. Born in 1448, he dedicated himself to a life of penance at a place called Semarkhedi near Sironj, District Vidisha. Malhargarh, District Guna, near the bank of the river Betwa, was selected by him for his last sojourn During his life of sixty-seven years, the saint spread his message of knowledge based on broad bumanism, which transcends the mundane differences of worldly life. Although he believed in the efficacy of scriptures, shrines and sacred places, he advocated the freedom of thought based on the ethical plane. His fourteen works are like jewels to enrich and guide the worldly and spiritual life of his followers. The shrines built at Semarkhedi and Malhargarh represent the architecture of the last phase of our period.
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