Jainism in Bihar

Author(s): P C Roy Choudhary
Publisher: P C Roy Choudhary Patna

Page 52

antiquity of the place. The Jain temples are pulled down and rebuilt by the Jains quite unlike the attitude of the Hindus. So it is certain that the present edifices are comparatively recent and were substituted for edifices which must have existed before.
The temple on the south-east side of the hill top is the main attraction. This has been described in the District Gazetteer of Hazaribagh as follows :
“ About three quarters of a mile on the southern descent from first math at which I arrived and snugly sheltered from the northern and western storms, stands the principal and the most beautiful of all the temples in this neighbourhood. The same observation that I have made regarding the mixture of Musalman and Hindu architecture in the temples of Madhuban will apply to this mandir. The pediment and body of the temple were ornamented with arched entrances between single pillars, such as are common in the larger houses of the Hindus; but above this all was in Mubammadan fashion. Five handsome fluted domes, one large one in the centre, surrounded with four small ones each forming the roof of a corresponding apartment, seemed too heavy a crown for the edifices from which they rose. These domes were well ornamented and were pointed with those spires composed of golden or brazen bells and ending in arrow heads which are generally to be seen shooting out from the tops of minarets. The four sides of the building are alike but to mark the principal approach, a large chobutra lies in front of the eastern archways.
On entering the centre and holy chamber of this temple, it is impossible to avoid being impressed with the simple beauty of the place. The
36