Jinamanjari 2000 04 No 21

Author(s): Jinamanjari
Publisher: Canada Bramhi Jain Society Publication

Page 63

Jinamañjari, Volume 21, No.1, April 2000
ART ASPECTS OF NIŚIDHI MEMORIALS
Dr. Shrinivas V. Padigar, Dharwar
Voluntary termination of life by prescribed procedures constitutes a unique feature of Jaina philosophical, spiritual and ritual tradition. Known variously as sallēkhanā, samādhimaraņa, arādhanāviclhi, its object is to liberate the soul. The procedure itself is of the nature of inviting death in order to put Death to death. Hundreds of commemorative records found particularly in Jaina centers of Karnataka like Sravanabelgoļa, Koppaļa, Huńcha, Muļugunda, etc. testify that the Jainas - saints, nuns, laymen and laywomen alike - willingly accepted and practiced this vow in abundant numbers through the centuries. Often such records are found on natural rock-hills, boulders, stone columns and stone tablets, the later two specially carved and erected as commemoratives. The records identify the self-mortified by name. These memorials, called nisidhis, form an interesting class in Jaina art.
Although the term nisidhi has not been satisfactorily explained, in the inscriptions of Karnataka and in Kannada literature, it has been consistently employed to denote a memorial of an ardent Jaina saint or adherent who breathed last by the prescribed ritual procedure. Rarely does one find a nisidhi set up for a votary who died of other reasons, as for instance a heroic death in a battle.
The stone seats or beds in Mankulam caves near Madurai and elsewhere in Tamilnādu, with 2nd - 1st B.C.E. Tamil Brāmhi inscriptions mentioning Jaina saints and donors are to be regarded perhaps as the earliest surviving instances of nisidhis. in Karnataka too, Jaina saints put to use natural caves and caverns for samadhimarana rite. Painted or inscribed records mentioning Jaina saints, found in natural caves and caverns in places like Koppaļa and Bādāmi are pointers to this. Niśidhis were inscribed or set up by a relative or, in the case of saints, a disciple.
The early nisidhi examples in Karnataka, records were engraved on live rocks or boulders associated with the self-mortified. Sometimes foot-prints of the saints were carved on rocks along with an inscription recording the name of the deceased. But before long, a distinct tradition of carving out a relief sculpture - usually above the record - was commenced. Even small shrines were erected as nisidhis. Being associated with the Faith as memorials, nisidhis acquired the attribute of symbolic sculptural jargon conforming to that theme. From the art point of view, principal nisidhi types may be considered as follows: Rockhill/boulder, Stone tablet and Columns.
Rock-hillBoulder Niśidhis Basically this type comprises of two sub-types: (a) Foot-print nisidhis on rockbeds and (b) nisidhis with relief-sculpture on rock cliffs.
Foot-print nisidhis on rockbeds were meant to commemorate Jaina saints. A good example is the foot-print of saint Sridēva found on Ckikkbettta rock hill at Sravaņabelgola. On the same hill foot-print memorials are found also near
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