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JAINA CULTURE
It is a standing image of Lord Rşabha, the first tirthankara. Its pedestal is lost and it is badly mutilated at the back, hands and legs. It is the earliest known Jina-image with a dhoti (lower garment). A large number of Jaina bronzes belonging to the period between the 6th and 11th centuries A. D. have been found in the Akota hoard. Ellora Jaina Cave Temple :
The Indra-sabha at Ellora is the best of the known Jaina cave temples of the medieval period. It is cut out of the solid rock. The courtyard is protected by a rock screen wall facing the south. In the east is a chapel with two pillars in the front and two at the back. Entering the courtyard, on the right is an elephant on a pedestal and on the left is a monolithic column, now fallen, surmounted by a quadruple image of a tirihankara. In the centre is an elaborate square porch over another quadruple image. A sort of double verandah gives access to the lower hall of the temple. There are two large images of Lord Sảnti, the sixteenth tirthankara, at one end of the verandah. At the other end is a stone stairway leading to the upper hall. Both the halls are adorned with pillars. The walls of the upper hall are filled with sculptured Jina-figures. Among the sculptured figures the most prominent are Lord Pärśva, Lord Mahāvīra and Gommața (Bahubali). Colossus of Gommatesvara :
Jaina architecture in South India is represented by two types of shrines : bastis and beltas. The bastis are regular temples containing images of tirthankaras. The bettas are open-air courtyards on the summits of hills containing colossal images of Gommateśvara. Gommaţa or Gommateśvara is another name of Bāhubali, the son of Rşabha, the first tirthankara.
At Śravaņa Belgola (62 miles from Mysore) there is a colossus of Gommateśvara on the summit (470 ft. above the
