Temple of Satrunjaya

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

Page 12

ultimate glory at Khajuraho in Uttar Pradesh. The elaborate arrangement of the uruš?ngas at Satrunjaya sometimes distantly recall the convention visualised at the temple of Nilakantha at Sunak.
With her history and tradition containing intimate episodes of the religion of the Nirgrantha it is not surprising that Gujarat has such impressive sites of pilgrimage as Satrunjaya and Girnar. Apart from the sacred memory of Rsabha and his meditations at Satrunjaya, the annals of the council at Valabhi, and the legends of Siddharaja, Hemacandra, great Kumarapala and Vira Dhavala will ever be remembered in posterity. It is gratifying to recall that even the Mughal emperors honoured and appreciated the monuments at Satrunjaya. Col. Tod who has charmed us by his accounts of the Rajput chivalry has also an admiring heart for these temples which will ever symbolise in a blissful solitude the enternal way of the Tirthankaras. By publishing the portfolio on Satrunjaya in the more accessible dimension Sri Ganesh Lalwani, Editor, Jain Journal, will receive, no doubt, the grateful thanks from the nation. His profound knowledge and understanding with regards to Jaina art and philosophy appropriately entitle him for such a responsibility. The importance of the monuments will perpetually go beyond the ordinary limits and will deserve admiration and curiosity in the world-level. Satrunjaya will appear enchanting to scholars, tourists and pilgrims who will venture to visit its idylli above a lonely and serene landscape. I offer my heartiest praise to Sri Lalwani for taking up the scholarly and laborious task in revising the original text of James Burgess.
P. C. DASGUPTA Director of Archaeology, Govt. of West Bengal