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JAINA MÄNASTAMBHAS AT DEOGARH
Tahsildar Singh
The custom of erecting pillars or votive columns in honour of the gods, cither. in front of their sbrines or elsewhere, was a fairly popular practice in ancient India. Among Hindus it was closely connected with the worship and installation of an image and consecration of a shrine to some god which, in course of time, was adopted by Jainas, particularly Digambaras, in form of manastambhas. The prototypes of these manastambhas are easily discernible in the wooden sthūnal of the Vedic burial mounds and YüpaStambhas? of the vedic sacrifices. Besides, these remind us the memorial columns.3 As there are no remains dating from Vedic period it seems probable that in those days they were made of wood and timber. As for their Jithic specimans are concerned the columns erected by Aśoka, the gros: test Maurya emperor, appear to be the carliest ones which are still extent.
the tradition sems to have been continued by Kuşaņa and Gupta Abonarchs,
This same practice was adopted by Jainas, at least in another way." - Their reliefs in sculpture are traced on the Āyagapata dedicated by Siha Vanika. (with a pillar surmounted by a dharmacakra and another superimposed by an elephant) and on the pedestals of the images discovered from KankaliTila, Mathura (with pillars superimposed by dharma-cakra being worshipped). The pillar in Kabaun, 10 Distt. Deoria, shows five Jinas-one (Parivanatha) a base and four at top, one on each side.11 This pillar bears.an inscription of Skandagupta dated Gupta Era 141=460-61 A.D. and records the erection of a sailastambha, resembling the peak of the best of mountains with the images of five Adikartın Arhats.12 Perhaps, this is the earliest pillar treated as a Jaina mänastambha 13
Known by different names like Indradhvajas, manastambhas, māņavakastambhas and even Kiritistambhas they are also mentioned in some impor, tant Jaioa literary compositions. Tiloyapaņpatti (c. 45.-816 A.D.) tells that the manastambhas were twelve times bigger than the image of the Tirthamp kara. They were ornated with camara, ghanta, kinkini, ratnahara and dhva ja and one image of Jinendra in each direction. There were four ponds one in each direction. 14 Adipurāņa of Jainasena (c. 753-843 A.D.) gives
in elaborate description of maríustambhas erected in the first rampart, the Whilisala, of the samavasarana of Vrşabhadeva.15 According to it the tall Taldea mdnastambhas were erected, one in each direction inside the dhülidla, in the midst of the vithis (streets or passages for walking). They
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