________________
The Trikūta Form of Temples and Their Influence on Jainism in South India 211
The Jain Achāryas, in the wake of construction of Panchāyatana temples of Hindus also observed the contemporary architectural changes by adding four cells to worship the other Tīrthankaras. Thus in the Godāvarī Delta were planned Pancharāmās. t centres of worship but these became Saivite centres afterwards.
In western India the Jain shrines were divided into 8 groups and as contended by N. H. Shastri and A. H. Sayeed, the second group mainly the narratives contained Panchakalyānakāras meaning five Tīrthankaras who bestowed prosperity on the devotees. 16 The findings confirm the prevalence of the holy cult in the 12th century AD during the popularity of Jain images of Panchatīrthì type namely the five Tīrthankaras during the Golden period of Gujarat Sultanate.!? Other forms of depiction But temples with 5 cells, though developed from the Trikūta type are very few in South India. As a matter of fact, the Trikūta form temples too disappeared from the scene during the 12th century AD. Prior to the Panchāyatana form, three were instances showing Tīrthankaras on the four sides of a pillar, as it Vijayawada (V. J. Museum, Vijayawada) during the rule of Eastern Chālukyas in 645 AD, which showed leanings towards Jainism. That was the first step taken to represent Mahāvīra with three other Tīrthankaras i. e. in Chaturmukha Form. In her paper V. Sakuntala18 dealt with the Chaturmukha temples citing a literary work, Vriksārnava of 5th century AD but such edifices have not been reported, to construct a time scale. The reason in opting for a triple shrine in the 7th century was to associate Mahāvīra with other two Tīrthankaras, known as the “Ratna Traya Devas" who attained heavenly bliss (kaivalya). In the 12th century the, Trikūta form of temple architecture came to an end as the very concept of the worship of Hindu Trinity lost its importance in favour of Saivism which advocated “Linga" worship.
In Karnātaka, Jainism exercised its hold on the masses even during the rule of Vijayanagar kings that lasted upto 15th century AD.
A. H. Longhurst' in his book on "Hampi Ruins" mentioned a group of Jain temples of pre-Vijayanagar period overlooking the courtyard of Pampāpati temple. Mostly cruciform in plan, these shrines exhibit stepped pyramidal towers, of stunted type, crowned by a square domical member, over the truncated apex. The form that tapers above, starts from the four corners of the base like that of Egyptian pyramid. The horizontal bands that gradually diminish and the horse shoe motif, occurring in the middle, of each facet, speaks the Jains liking for the chaitya window symbol that enriched the Indian art. Emulating the Buddhists, the Jains too selected picturesque sites and elevated spots valuing the effect of environment of the architecture. Some of their temples were dated back to the Pallava period of 7th century AD, considering their simplicity of style by A. H. Longhurst.20
The pattern of stepped horizontal tiers of pyramidal type did influence the Ganga rulers of Orissa in the 13th century AD.21 The temples at Konark (Orissa) and Simhachalam (near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh) constructed by Narasimhadeva (1238-64 AD)
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
