Jaina Monuments Of Orissa

Author(s): R P Mohapatra
Publisher: D K Publications

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Jaina Monuments of Orissa
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verse. A creation really means to make things out of nothing. The maker also is assumed to be a reality though in fact he is also no where or nothing. So the Buddhist philoso phers of the Mahayana School i.e. the School of Buddhism which conceived Buddha as the creator of the universe and the fountain head of karuna or mercy, naturally developed the theory of Nihilism (Sunyavada which means, "everything comes out of nothing"). The Jaina symbol i.e. the stone called Kalinga Jina therefore under the stress of that theory came to be explained as Nila (black nothingless), Ma (mohter creative energy), and Dhava (white i.e. the phenomenal universe).
"Thus the Kalinga Jina or the Jina symbol of black stone was in course of time known as Nilamadhava. I am told a black stone is still worshipped under the name of Nilamadhava by the aborigins in the jungles of Pal Lahara, in the present Dhenkanal district of Orissa".
A.L. Basham on the basis of popularity of Jagannatha cult in Orissa speculates its prevalence in a different form in pre-Maurya or Mauryan times and the practices followed by this religion enraged Aśoka to attack Kalinga. He observes "It is well known that in more recent times, the people of Orissa have been particularly devoted to the cult of Jagannatha focussed on the great temple of Puri. Orissa's regional nationalism has centred round this cult for at least a thousand years. We cannot trace the cult of Jagannatha back to the days of Aśoka, but it is probable that it already existed in some form, no doubt in an unsanskritised form with the Hindu God Vișnu. Such a cult with its indigenous priesthood, might well have set itself in opposition to Mauryan imperialism and have encouraged sedition and revolt in favour of the former native rulers of Kalinga. This might provide sufficient reason for the suppression of Aśoka's twelfth Rock Edict in the Kalinga edition". We have earlier indicated that Orissa was a stronghold of Jainism during pre-Maurya and Mauryan times. The Kalinga Jina was considered as a prized object by the then Magadhan rulers. For this Kalinga Jina Khāravela also waged several expeditions against the king of Magadha. Aśoka's invasion of Kalinga was nothing but to suppress the Jaina religious sentiment to which the people and the king alike of Kalinga were so much attached. So the Kalinga Jina either in the earlier form of Jagannatha or with its separate identity of a pedestal or image was highly reverred in ancient Orissa.
On the inner wall of the verandah of Mañichapuri-Gumpha we notice a large panel showing the worship of some unidentifiable object. The object of worship has actually been decayed due to continuous rubbing of the surface and constant exposure to weathering conditions. The faint resemblance of the object leads the scholars from time to time to variously interpret its subject matter. T.N. Ramachandran's and following him K.C. Panigrahi, N.K. Sahu" and others tried to identify the panel by taking the unspecified object of worship to be the throne of the Kalinga Jina more possibly
74. A.L. Basham, "Some reflections on the separate Kalinga Edicts of Aśoka", Seminar paper, International seminar on Buddhism and Jainism, Cuttack, 1976. 75. T.N. Ramachandran, I.H.O., Vol. XXXVII, 1951 pp. 103-04.
76. K C. Panigrahi, Archaeological Remains at Bhubaneswar, p. 206-07. 77. N.K. Sahu, History of Orissa, Vol. I, pp. 360-61.