Jinamanjari 2000 09 No 22

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

Page 39

Bharhut. At Sāñchī several clues help show how such evolved art could appear so suddenly with seemingly no predecessors. The post-and-beam construction of the fences and gates, while in stone, immediately tell us that earlier less permanent works of wood had existed. Workmen familiar with working in ivory were responsible for much of the stone carving at Sāñchi, as evidenced by an inscription on the western gateway. Finally, the carved scroll-work ends of the torana cross-beams indicate that originally these narrative strips were of cloth rolls, or 'pațas'.
DAR
Triin
PUTETI
***
TOTO
TI
*
Fig. 10. Digambara samavasarana of Parsvanatha, detail of painting on courtyard wall, Digambara Jaina Math, Sravana Belgola, 17th century. (Photo by A.W. Norton)
Pața, according to Monier-Williams, means "woven cloth, cloth...., a painted piece of cloth, a picture." 25 It is known that Mathurā was a wealthy community during the Kuşāņa period, and that various religious groups were active there, including both Digambara and Svetāmbara Jainas.
This devout and wealthy Jaina population would understandably wish to have religious art of a permanent nature. Therefore they, like the Buddhists at Sāñchī and Bharhut, had their monuments made of brick and stone, with such elements as vedikās and toranas of stone rather than of perishable wood or
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