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Jaina Ācāryas have always exhibited their concern for the ethico-spiritual development of man. In conformity with this view, art must give ethico-spiritual message to mankind. This means that for Jainism art is purposive and the purpose is to inspire people to translate into action the ideals of life and living. Thus Jaina Art has been essentially religious with ethical predominance, but this did not obstruct the manifestation of aesthetic consciousness of an artist dedicated to the Jaina values of life. Jaina-Art expresses itself in diverse forms, important of which are caves, temples, pillars, towers and paintings.
Jainas built cave dwellings for monks, so that they may get secluded places for their sādhanā. A large number of rock-cut caves has been identified in the Udayagiri and Khandagiri Hills in Orissa (2nd Cent. B.C.) the picturesqueness of their forms, the character of their sculptures and architectural details combined with their great antiquity, render them one of the most important groups of caves in India.72" The other caves are found at Jūnāgadha in Gujarāta (2nd Cent. B.C.), Rajagiri in Bihāra (1st Cent. A.D.)) Udayagiri in Madhyapradeśa, (4th Cent. A.D.), Candragiri at Śravanabelagolā in Mysore, (4th Cent. B.C.), at Ellora and at Usmānābāda in Mahārastra (5th Cent. A.D.) and Sittanavāsala in Tamilnādu (3rd Cent. B.C.)73. "By far the most interesting cave-temples of the Jainas, from the artistic point of view, are, however, the Indrasabhāand Jagannātha-sabhā groups at Ellora. According to Percy Brown, "No other temple at Ellora is so complete in its arrangements or so finished in its workmanship as the upper storey of the Indrasabhā."74
It is of capital importance to note that since Jaina religion regards the construction of temples as an auspicious act, Jainas
Spiritual Awakening (Samyagdarśana) and Other Essays
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