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Introductory
intention, and of necessity, the descriptions of the temples given here betray an archaeological bias, using technical 'vāstu' and 'silpa' terms in Sanskrit and diacritical marks used also for personal and place names, keeping, however, in view the eight factors in serious writings, namely accuracy, acuity, authenticity, clarity, brevity, simplicity, communicability, and readability. At the same time, undue sophisticated phrasing has been studiedly avoided. The book is first and the last meant for academics as well as scholars and serious students of Indian temple architecture as a reference book and modestly aspires at being useful for long decades to come. However, in the chapter embodying the descriptions of plates, an attempt has been made, wherever there was scope, to dwell upon the art-interpretative besides art-historical, and hence on the qualitative aspects of the interiors and their significant architectural members and details, in short focusing on the aesthetic essence of the buildings.
xvii
Under the aegis of the Solanki rulers, the medieval times in Gujarat saw the ultimate peak of political power, commerce, opulence, and expansion together with development of the regional culture and its manifestations including art and architecture. In those eventful centuries, along with Śaivism, Jainism, too, passed through its most glorious phase. In Gujarat, then, hundreds of Śvetambara friars and monks belonging to the many different gacchas or orders preached and produced scores of religious literary works including soulful hymns, and many commentaries were written on the ancient as well as then contemporary didactic and doctrinal works. What is more, besides the dedication of innumerable Jina images in stone and in brass as meritorious acts, for housing them, some two hundred temples were built, among them many were large and fully decorated and architecturally complete complexes. The historical vicissitudes which followed after the end of the medieval period, resulted in the devastation of the vast majority of these buildings along with the many repositories in many cities that treasured the palm-leaf manuscripts. The carved pillars and ornamental ceilings that graced the Jaina temples were used in constructing the mosques at Patan (Aṇahillapāṭaka, the capital of Gujarat), Ahmedābād (Āśāpalli-Karṇāvatī), Cambay (Khambhat, Stambha-tirtha), Bharuch (Bhrgukaccha), Dholakā (Dhavalakakka), Mandal (Mandali), Vanthalī (Vānanasthalī), Prabhāsa, Mangaro! (Mangalapura), and some other towns like Kapadavanj
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