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Jaina Community --A Social Survey
more easily adopted to the purposes of Muslims, but furnished hints of which the Muslim architects were not slow to avail themselves. A mosque obtained in this way was, for convenience and beauty, unsurpassed by anything the Muslims afterwards erected from their own original designs. 94 Thus the great mosques of Ajmer, Delhi, Kanaujdhar and Ahmedabad are merely reconstructed temples of Hindus and Jainas. Further, the grouping together of their temples into what may be called “Cities of temples” is a peculiarity which the Jainas have practised to a greater extent than the followers of any other religion in India. Such notable temple-cities are found among other places, at Satruñjaya or Palitāņā and Giranāra in Gujarātha, at Sammeda śikhara in Bihar, at Sonāgiri in Bundelakhanda, at Muktāgiri in Vidarbha, at Kunthalagiri in the Deccan, at Śravanabelagola in Mysore' and at Mușabidri in South Kanara.% Again the Jainas also, like the Buddhists, built several cave temples cut in rocks from the early times. But in dimensions the Jaina cave temples were smaller than those of Buddhist ones because the Jaina religion prescribed individualistic and not congregational ritual.91 The most numerous cave temples are in the Udayagiri and Khandagiri Hills in Orissa.98 The picturesqueness of their forms, the character of their sculptures and architectural details combined with their great antiquity render them one of the most important groups of caves in India. These and those of Jupāgadha in Gujarātha belong to the second century B. C. while the others are of a later date of which the important ones are found at Aihole and Badāmi in Bijapur District, at Ankai and Pātana in Khandesh District, at Ellora and Osmanabad in Marathwada, at Chamāra Leņā near Nasik and at Kalugumalai in Tinnevelly District. Like the Buddhists Jainas also erected Stūpas, in honour of their saints, with their accessories of stone railings, decorated gateways, stone umbreilas, elaborate carved pillars and abundant statues. Early examples of these have discovered in the Kankāli mound near Mathurā and they are supposed to belong to the first century B. C.100
Another remarkable contribution of the Jainas in the field of architecture is the creation of many pillars or stambhas of pleasing design and singular grace which are found attached to many of their temples.101 Fergusson thinks that it may be owing to the tyloclastic propensities of the Muslims that these pillars are not
