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Jaina Rock-cut Caves in Western India ground plan, type of pillars and doorways, ceilings and the decorative motifs are very similar to contemporary structural temples. More than anything, the treatment of the lower portion of the cave frontage as a plinth or adhisthäna with various mouldings point at the effort to make a cave look like a structural temple as functionally such plinths are useless in cave architecture. Some of the other sites like Anjaneri, Vase and Daulatabad also have doorways, pillars, and plinths like the contemporary structural temples. Apart from imitating features of structural architecture, some of these caves also make use of actual structural components. Thus, the verandah at Tringalwadi including plinth, back wall and the ornamental doorway as well as the hall pillars, shrine doorway of Cave VI at Ankai and pillars at Vase are structural.
A noticeable feature is the absence of many carved icons in the caves, which imitate the structural architecture and are decorative, such as Ankai-Tankai, Tringalwadi, Daulatabad and Vase. A few loose icons found in the vicinity of these caves and the presence of benches in the caves suggests that many loose icons were installed. The reasons behind such an arrangement are difficult to determine. It could have been done due to the fear of iconoclasts since loose icons can be hidden and saved. It could also have been an attempt to imitate the structural temples in ditto or probably the making of loose sculptures was found to be easier than carving rock-cut icons at these sites. Compared to these, the architecturally plain and rough caves such as those at Chandor, Bhamer, Mohida and Mangi-Tungi have a large number of fine rock-cut sculptures. On the other hand, at the caves like Patne with a number of carved icons, a few loose icons also must have been installed as the presence of empty niches in the side walls suggest.
Most of the Jaina caves under study with the exception of Dharashiva II and III, Ambejogai, Ellora (lower caves), Ankai-Tankai, Tringalwadi, Daulatabad and Vase, are architecturally crude and rough excavations, though many of these display a large number of fine sculptures. The 'caves' on the peaks of Mangi-Tungi are plain rooms profusely carved with icons and in most cases; there are a large number of icons carved directly on rock-face encircling the peaks. Thus, in most of the Jaina caves the emphasis has been only on icons rather than the architecture or decoration of the caves.
ICONOGRAPHIC FEATURES
The icons of tirthankaras and yaksa-yakşi figures dominate the iconographic programme of most of the caves. Occasionally the figures of dikpalas, Hanuman, Ganesa, Bhairava form of Kshetrapala and yakṣa-yakşi couples or what is known as 'parents of Jina' also occur. The monk or acharya figure with broom and kamandalu occurs at Mangi-Tungi and is not found at any other site. The scenes of Kamatha's attack on Parsvanatha and meditating Bahubali are very popular themes at Ellora and continued to be represented till 12th-13th century CE in caves at Ankai and Mohida, though not as twin scenes as at Ellora. Unlike Ellora examples, these later representations consist of minimum figures in the scene and lack the same vigour and force.
