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190: JAINS TODAY IN THE WORLD
One may sometimes see planets carved on the porches of Jain temples. For devotees, these heavenly bodies are supposedly sending benefic waves. Dancers, musicians and animals are sculpted on the walls and (or) on the pillars to praise the Tīrthankara honoured inside the temple. Jain sanctuaries often feature paintings and adornings that recall the five auspicious events (pañca-kalyāņaka) in the live of a Tīrthankara. Similarly, dreams that his mother had before his birth are often painted or depicted in temples. We will see the meaning of these dreams later.
As Pramoda Chitrabhanu says in her booklet “Jain symbols, ceremonies and practices” these temples are "on sculptural and architectural level, the symbols of ingeniousness and of creativity of men and of the highest degree of their spirituality”.
Statues also have a high symbolic value for Jains who worship “mūrti". They remind that those they represent have obtained liberation and show how to model themselves. The Svetāmbara put on them rich garments, crowns, jewels, etc. to emphasise their majesty. They have very expressive eyes often colourfully painted to seem alive. Those of the Digambara are nude, eyes cast down, without any jewels, to show the detachment and composure necessary to attain liberation. All the statues of Tīrthankara are cut from noble materials, like good quality stone, white marble or alabaster. Some are in silver and even in gold, to manifest their spiritual value. Those of Supārsva and Pārśva have a hood of snakes above the head to recall legends concerning them. For some, these snakes are salient features of immortality.
Most Jain statues show the Tīrthankara either standing in posture of abandonment of the body (kāyotsarga), which is also a mark of penance or in lotus posture (padmāsana) that symbolizes meditation and self-control. In North India, some statues of Tīrtharikara or Jina
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