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Their Prominent Features in India and Abroad : 239 for perfection and purity, the expression of their spirituality and of their incredible talent.
Pratapaditya Pal, curator of the “County Museum of Art” of Los Angeles discerns three great periods in Jain art. In the first period (from the II”d century BC to the III'd century AD) he notes, among others, the great centre of Mathura, at 150 kms South of Delhi with its "stūpa”, the remains of two temples, of a great number of statues and inscriptions very important for the history of Jainism. He also cites several tokens of respect that are considered as the predecessors of later tantric yantra.
For the second period (from the IVth to the VIIIth century AD) Pratapaditya Pal mentions Jain cave-temples, especially at Ellora (nos 30 to 34) with wonderful sculptures and paintings. From the same period, he cites numerous splendid steles in metal of Jina that may have been used by devotees for worship and contemplation. Unfortunately, very few temples dating from that time have survived havoc and destruction. From the Vih century AD he reports semi-nude female deities and fascinating statues of Jina with young, athletic and well-proportioned bodies that are the symbols of victory over passion, desire and sensual pleasures
During the third period (from the 1xch to the XIVch century), regarded as “The Golden Age" of Jain art, rich and influent adepts have built the most polished and refined temples (Mount Abu, Khajuraho, Girnar hill, Palitana, etc.). Some of them have been destroyed, rebuilt or changed into mosques. Pratapaditya Pal mentions in the xh century, the huge and splendid statue of Bāhubali at Shravana Belgola in South India and, in North of India, the splendid temple of Ranakpur where one can see, among others, beautiful refined sculptures of dancers and musicians who exalt perfection, liberation and eternal bliss of the souls. This is also the period of Jain
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