Jinamanjari 2002 04 No 25

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

Page 28

Early Structures. Heliodorous pillar at Besanagar, and the caves and structural temples of the Udayagiri hills (382426 C.E.); and Aihole and Pattadakal (sixth C.E.). Final Phase of Rock-cut. Sittanavasal and Bādāmi (seventh C.E.) in the South; Ellora's Indrasabha in the Deccan (eighth C.E.) and at Udayagiri.
Osia, Abu,
Medieval Phase. Spread through out India Ranakpur, Vaibhara hills in Bihar, etc.
Art and Architectural Characteristies
The art and architectural features of the religion seem to answer to and express all that was consistent with the fundamentals of Jaina belief, and include without discomfort what Jainism was impelled to creatively develop in response to the changing times. The Jina icons are thus spiritual in nature depicting the passion and pain of life on Earth. They often grace the caves or cave walls, boulders or brick wall of a shrine, and devote entirely to their contemporary times. From a very ancient period, the Jain sages in India had sought a place of solitude to perform their meditation and spiritual activities in natural caves as their habitat in the isolated hills. This gave rise fast to Jaina natural caverns and the dedicatory inscriptions in Brahmi script, and eventually sculptural representation or architectural relics came into prominence as sites assuming spiritual and religious significance.
The spiritual element in the image is not just a religious symbol but one that represents positive change - from sufferance to spirituality trying to figure out who I am? The sculptures therefore are the tangible records of the spiritual stories of the Jaina people, - the story of the Jinas and the Ending of the cycle of rebirth. The history and the legend of the Jina is His coming to Earth in the form of human, who brings the spirit of aspiration, hope to thaw the frozen heart into enlightening of the fact what lies and what and how the path of purification must be followed. The dhyina postures of the images and the culture system of worship of the revered Jinas thus formed material source for Jaina sculptural art and architecture.
The early medieval Jaina sculptures and architectural remains have been found at several places in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal and Southern India. However, the post-Gupta period in the North did not have much patronage from the ruling class, Jainism in the early medieval period was patronized by several dynasties and rulers of the west, of the Deccan, and of the south. In the words of Jain saint-scholar Jinasena (783
C.E.), the Jainas had
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