Jinamanjari 2000 09 No 22

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

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for the artist to display skill and talent, they nevertheless draw admiring appreciation in the sense that they "stand as "veritable embodiments of immovable strength and indestructible Power."5
The Jaina architectural characteristics are exhibited in such structures like natural caves, mānastambhas erected in front of the temples, stupa, ayagapaṭa, tōraṇa and the other decorative sculptures. In Jain literature, the term applied to a temple is āyatana and it dates back to the time of Mahāvīra who use to stay in yakṣāyatanas in the course of his sojourns.6 Later, these places came to be known as Jinayatanas. Jain ascetics, being wanderers and forest reclusive, often lived in natural caves or caverns on the top of the hills which lie far from human habitation. In these caverns, rock-cut and polished bed-like structures are found where daily functioning of spiritual and meditational activities were carried out. As well, the performance of sallekhana, a characteristic feature of Jain culture and ideology, was observed by the ascetics.
Of note, Jain iconography is referred to in the earliest of the canonical texts such as the Angas and Upangas. Jain Prakrit texts like the Dīpārṇava of Viswakarman, the Rūpamandana, the Prāsadamanṇana of Mandana, the Vāstumañjari of Nāthāji, and the Vastusara Payarana deal with the Jaina iconography and the temple architecture.
In South India, particularly in Andhra and Karnataka, the Jain temples are known by the term basadi, basti or vasadi, and iconographical features are distinguished into main components such as the pitha or adhisthana, the maṇdōvara or bhitti, the wall portion supporting the roof, and the sikhara or the spherical roof. There also other architectural forms like the stupa or tumulus, caitya-vāsa and niṣadhi or tomb stone.
The earliest known Tirthankara images come from Lohanipur near Pataliputa. They bear a Mauryan polish. It has been established by well known art-historian Dr. U.P. Shah that the image worship - verily a portrait statue - of Mahavira is known from the SindhuSauira land of king Moruka whose queen Uddyana, and later king Pradyota of Ujjain worshipped this great Jina of the times. This lifetime portrait statue known as jivantasvāmī-pratima of sandalwood was prepared when Mahāvira with a crown, some ornaments and a lower garment was in standing meditation about a year prior to the final renunciation. This image was used to be taken out on a chariot on a certain day at Vidisa and during this ratha-yātrā, Samprati, the Maurya king and grandson of Asoka, was converted to Jainism by Acarya Suhasti. The image worship from archaeological data coming
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