Jaina Art and Architecture Vol 02

Author(s): A Ghosh
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

Page 68

MONUMENTS & SCULPTURE A.D. 1000 TO 1300
[PART V assisted by Arisihā (probably Arisimha of Mewar as suggested by Sharma)1 and a ruler of Malwa in hoisting the flagstaff on the Rāja-vihāra, a Jaina temple at Ajmer. Pṛthviraja II made the gift of a village to the temple of Pārsvanatha at Bijolia. Arņorāja's son Someśvara also donated a village to the Jaina shrine at Bijolia and Pṛthviraja III granted a jaya-patra to JinapatiSūri in v.s. 1239 (A.D. 1182) and employed followers of Jainism to many responsible posts.
The Cahamānas of Nadol, being closer to the Caulukyas (Solankis) of Gujarat, were more intimate with Jainism. Aśvaraja of the Nadol branch of the Cahamānas, himself a Jaina, issued orders for a strict observance of ahimsa on certain specific days. An epigraph of Asvarāja's period, dated A.D. 1110, from Sevadi registers a gift barely equal to one haraka from every well (with arahatta) located within four villages for the daily pūjā of Dharmanathadeva by Mahāsahaniya Uppalaraka. Another inscription, of A.D. 1115, from the same place records a gift of king Katukarāja on the occasion of Śivarātri for the worship of Śāntinātha in the khattaka of Yasodeva. In 1132 king Rayapāla's sons and queen donated a certain quantity of oil from each oil-mill out of the royal family's own share. The Nadloi inscription of 1138 also records a grant of one-twentieth part of tax levied on the merchandise coming to and going out of the city for the puja of Jina Neminatha. Alhaṇadeva issued on the Sivaratri day of 1152 an amări-ghoṣaṇā (proclamation for non-slaughter of animals) and even Brahmaņas, priests and ministers were ordered to respect this edict. The kings of this line worshipped Brahmanical gods like Sürya, Iśāna, etc., and showed respect towards the Brahmanas as well as Jaina shrines and Acaryas. This spirit of tolerance also seems to have been shared by the common man normally throughout the period in spite of occasional polemics and conflicts between leaders of various religious systems.
The position appears to be similar with the Gahaḍavāla kings of Kanauj and Vārāṇasi, although we have no direct evidence on their outlook towards Jaina community and church. Yet, a single example is sufficient to show that they had liberal and tolerant religious ideas. The Gahaḍavāla ruler Govindacandra was a devout Brahmanist like his predecessors, but his consort Kumaradevi was a Buddhist who was allowed by her husband to reconstruct
1 Ibid., p. 62.
2 tajjyeştha-bhrātriputro'bhūt Pṛthvirajaḥ Prthūpamaḥ | tasmad arjjita-hemango hema-parvvata-dānataḥ || atidharmmaratenäpi Pärśvanatha-svayambhuve! dattam Morajhari-grāmaṁ bhukti-mukteśca hetunā || Epigraphia Indica, XXVI, 1952, p. 105,
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