Temple of Satrunjaya

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 10

has been from time immemorial the sacred Mount for devotees yearning for the final knowledge and the nirvana. Neither any secterian rivalry nor any invasion nor works of renovation of age-old shrines with indifference to distinct styles could diminish in the past the essential beauty and inspiration of the tirtha rich with its towering or storied temples guarded by massive ramparts with loop-holes and embrasures. The embattled walls along with the severity of round buttreses rising at corners will recall days of trouble in mediaeval times when the treasures of the shrines near Palitana could lure iconoclasts and armies set out for predatory expeditions. Though the parapets could be used as a real defence in accordance with the tradition of fortification established through siege-operations in bygone days, these may also nevertheless represent the prākāra as mentioned in the Jaina canonical texts. (U. P. Shah: Studies In Jaina Art, Benaras 1955, pp. 90-91) In this connection it may be recalled that the "so-called Ghosundi inscription of the second century B.C. refers to the erection of a pūjāśila-prākāra round the shrines of Sankarsana and Vasudeva, which presumably contained the images of these gods. (Dr. J.N. Banerjea: The Development of Hindu Iconography, published by the University of Calcutta in 1941 p. 11)
That the temples of Satrunjaya sometimes represent the architectonic tradition of Western India established among other places at Modhera, Sejakpur and Sunak has been illustrated by certain monuments and edifices. On the other hand, the decorative motifs and sculptures displayed through the moon-white Makhrana marble imported from Marwad reminisce the purity of the Jaina sanctuaries of Mount Abu. If the latter, as opined by Benjamin Rowland, "are in a sense the final baroque culmination of the Gujarat style", the temples of Satrunjaya translate into architecture a calm conviction and an escalation of faith through amalgamated forms and styles. Apart from the sculptures of the Jinas which convey in their symbolic austerity and grace the glory of those who have forever put out the flame of attachment from the lamp of existence, the crowds of heavenly musicians, dancers and divinities at Satrunjaya perpetually sparkle from another world being inspiring and remote in a distinct style of craftsmanship. What has been experienced here is often the recognisable trait of
- mediaeval and later Jaina art in its scope of narration of legends and delineation of events in the ethereal plane. The Jaina marbles of the epochs have repeatedly visualised the delight of beauty both alluring