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The Trikūta Form of Temples and Their
Influence on Jainism in South India
Dr. P. Rama Chandra Murthy
In the National Seminar on Jainism held at Hyderabad from 3.2.1999 to 5.2.1999, some interesting papers were presented on the temple types and the mode of worship that existed from time to time. Dr. Srinivas V. Padigar of Karnātaka University, Dharwar in his paper on "Some aspects of Jaina imagery in Karnātaka", referred to the worship of “Ratna Traya Devas" namely the three images of Tīrthankara together on a single pītha, in the coastal Karnātaka region in the 12th century AD. In Karnataka, Jainism flourished during the reign of Chālukyas of the 7th century AD, and its collateral branch that ruled the Godāvarī and Krishnā regions in the same period patronized Jainism and this resulted in the construction of Jain temples in the coastal Andhra. At Bādāmī, the Chālukyas constructed numerous Jain temples and in every one was installed 24 Tīrthankaras. So the Ratna traya might be the selected few. The Jains followed the Hindu type of temple architecture, the trikūta type that aimed to house the Trinity i. e. Surya, Vasudeva and Siva in the 10h century AD. So the Jains too raised temples of Trikūta type i. e. temples cruciform in plan for installing the “Ratna Traya Devas”. Temples of this form can be seen in the Karnātaka region and several of these were installed at Hampi prior to the establishment of Vijayanagar kingdom. A. H. Longhurst dated the early ones to the 7th century Pallava rule. In the long run, the practice of setting up three shrines underwent further change with the addition of two more shrines, to the already existing ones, erected at the cardinal point. Thus, the Trikūta assumed the shape of Panchāyatana to have five sanctums including the principal one. But shrines of this form are very few.
The archaeological excavations conducted by the Govt. of Andhra Pradesh at Gollotha Gudi, situated 12 kms away form Jadecherla Railway Station in Mahaboobnagar District of
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