Materials Used for Jaina Inscriptions

Author(s): D B Diskalkar
Publisher: Z_Vijay_Vallabh_suri_Smarak_Granth_012060.pdf

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DISKALKAR: MATERIALS USED FOR JAINA INSCRIPTIONS
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rovara at Sravana Belgola which records the sallekhanã of the Jaina preceptor Mallişeņa Maladhārideva in 1129 A.D. (E. I. III. 185).
Stone slabs : Jaina inscriptions incised on stone slabs record notices of the building of temples, panegyrics of Jaina sādhus and rulers and copies of Jaina religious texts. Some of the praśastis are very long and beautiful like the Dholka prasasti of the poet Rāmacandrasuri containing one hundred verses. A majority of the stone slab inscriptions record grants of land, money or cattle towards the maintenance of Jaina establishments, though the more common material for such grants is copper-plates. Land grants inscribed on stone slabs are generally found in South India. Like the Brahmanical land grants on stone, the Jaina land grants bear sculptures in panels from Jaina mythology and contain the figures of a Tirthankara in one or more niches of it.
Of the numerous statues and architectural pieces none perhaps are so worthy of attention as the beautifully carved stone slabs which bear the technical name 'Ayāgapata'. They are peculiar to the early Jainas. (J.U.P. H.R.S. 1943, p. 58). Several of the Āyāgapațas bear votive inscriptions mentioning the name of the donor (Scythian period p. 147).
Metal inscriptions : A large number of Jaina inscriptions are found engraved on metal images made of copper or bronze. Such images are preserved almost in every temple of the Jainas. These images are also of a stereotyped form, one central image being placed on the pedestal and twenty-four or a smaller number of images being embossed on a metal plate fixed at the back of the main image. The inscribed portion is on the pedestal or on the back of the plate. Inscribed metal images are generally dated from the tenth century onwards though older images are at times found, e.g. the Jaina bronzes dated in V.S. 744 found at Ankoţtaka in N. Gujarat (J.O.I. Vol. I, 264).
Like the Brahmanical land grants, the Jaina land grants are incised on sheets of copper. Jaina copper-plate grants are in no way different from the Brahmanical land grants except in the invocatory verses.
Copper-plates containing copies of Jaina yantras or Namokara mantras are peculiar to the Jainas.
Silver plates inscribed with Jaina sacred verses like the Namokara mantras and Tantrik formulas and Rşimandala mantras are preserved in some Jaina bhandaras.