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CHAPTER 28]
WEST INDIA
temple-style of the thirteenth century down to the fifteenth, when in western India a rejuvenated temple-building activity was in full swing.
It appears that the political stability that was assured by the might of Råņā Kumbha in the middle of the fifteenth century provided an atmosphere for the Jainas to take up temple-building not only in Mewar but also in adjacent regions. During the reign of Kumbha and his immediate successors a number of Jaina temples associated with the Digambara sect were constructed at Chitor and among them was the Adinātha temple standing near the famous Jaina kirtti-stambha, also dedicated to Adinatha of an earlier date. Three wellknown temples on Mount Girnar-Samarasimha's temple (1438), temple of Samprati-Rājā (1453) and Melaka-vasahi (1455)also belong to the middle of the fifteenth century. All these temples follow the broad lines of the Solanki version of Nāgara temple-style and, as such, corroborate the general description of the temple-type discussed in the Vāstu-sära of Thakkura Pheru.
The fifteenth century appears to be especially significant in western India from the viewpoint of architectural activities conducted by the followers of the Arhats. For this was the period when the medieval architecture of the region, which has aptly been termed as 'middle style' by James Fergusson, was set in order. The best expression of this 'middle style' may be marked in a unique type of temple constructed for enshrining the images of Jaina Tirthankaras by the architects of the age. This type is based on the previous experiences of the Solanki and Vaghelā school of the Nāgara temple-style and shows the ensemble of such well-known constituents as the adhişthâna, i.e. raised platform, devakulikās, i.e. surrounding chapels, Sikharas with their clustering anga-sikharas, pillared mand apas, gavākşas, i.e. balconied windows, etc. It creates a new form, however, by elaborating a ground plan with a pivotal square at the centre. The temples of this type are usually known among the Jainas as caumukha (caturmukha) and approximates in general to the sarvatobhadra type described in Indian texts on architecture.
TL.
The best example of this caumukha type may be seen in the Adinātha, Adiśvara or Yugādiśvara temple at Ranakpur or Ranpur, near Sadari in Mewar. Situated in a valley of extreme natural beauty, this complex stands out among a number of Jaina shrines at the place which is considered to be one of the five sacred sites in Mewar. An inscription on a pillar close beside the entrance of its main shrine records that in 1439 Depäka, an architect, constructed the building to the order of Dharanaka, a devoted Jaina. From a reference to Rāṇā Kumbha
1 J. Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, I, reprinted Delhi, 1967, p. 60.
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