Kavyanushasana Part 2

Author(s): Hemchandracharya, Rasiklal C Parikh, Ramchandra B Athvale
Publisher: Mahavir Jain Vidyalay

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II
Introduction to the History of Gujarat - as a Back-ground to
The Life & Times of Hemachandra
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Hemachandra the author of the Kävyänuṣāsana - is a remarkable figure in the history of Samskṛta Literature and Learning, a conspicuous personality in the social and political history of Gujarat and one of the greatest apostles of the Jaina Church. Like every other great man he was moulded by, as well as a moulder of, his times. He lived in an age when Gujarāt was reaching its zenith in all activities of life, in fact, in the glorious age of the history of Gujarat. Politically, economically, and culturally Gujarāta was reaching its high watermark in the reigns of Siddharaja Jayasimha (V. S. 1150 V. S. 1199), and Kumārpāla (V. S. 1199-V. S. 1230) with both of whom he was in intimate contact. The intellectual and cultural life of the city of Aṇahilavaḍa Pattana was in the high tradition of Pataliputra, Ujjayinī, Kanyakubja, Valabhi and Bhinnamala. The fondness of its rulers and merchant princes for raising architectural monuments had resulted in some of the finest temples at Aṇahilavāḍa Pattana, Moḍhera, Siddhapura, Somanatha, Arbudachala (Mt. Abu) and many other places, and had created a whole class of master - builders who were in demand even in the South.* And these temples were not only
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* See Burgess The Architectural Antiquities of Northern Gujarat pp. 21-22. See also, references from Manimek halai: There in The Beginning of South Indian History: p. 137. " is mention of a temple of the most beautiful workmanship in the same city (Puhar) built by the Gurjjars.'
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