________________
Bhuvanesvara, Gwalior. Khajuraho etc. in India, and in the British Museum, and Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Zurich Museum, Switzerland, the Berlin Museum, West Germany, the museums at New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Cleveland, Kansas City, Los Angeles, San Francisco. etc. in U.S.A. and in a number of private collections in India and abroad
Jainism's great contribution to the art of casting matel images is now acclai med by scholars with the publication of hoards of bronzes from Vasantagadha, Akota, Rajnapur Khinkhini, Chausa, Lingasur, etc. Some beautiful bronzes of the Chola period are now brought to light. A few such specimens are preserved in the Government Museum at Madras.
The biggest known stone image in India, about 17 meters in height, is the beautiful statue of Bahubali, popularly known as Gommatesvara, at Sravana Belagola, installed in about 980 A.D. Of about the same height but of late period is another rock-cut figure of a Tirthankara at the Gwalior fort. Another colossal sculpture of Gommatesvara, set up on a hillock at Karkal (Karnataka). is 125 meter in height, installed in 1431-32. A third one set up at Venur in 1603-04 A.D. is about 11 meters in height.
Some of the mediaeval Jaina shrines are world famous. Of these the Delvada group of temples at Abu are especially attractive for their delicate carvings and fine chiselling of white marble. The famous Chaumukha shrine at Ranakapur in Rajasthan is noteworthy for its complex plan and a large variety of richly carved marble pillars.
As in the field of architecture and sculpture, the Jaina munificence is equally great in the field of painting. The Jaina contribution in this field is of great significance, especially of the mural paintings at Sittannavasal, Armamalai and Tirumalai in Tamil Nadu, and Ellora in Maharashtra. These supply important links in the history of Indian Painting. The Ellora frescoes still await better treatment and publication.
But the most prolific contribution of the Jainas is by way of book illustrations or miniature paintings on palm-leaf and paper in Jaina manuscripts from Western India, especially from Gujarat ard Rajasthan, dating from c. eleventh century upto the end of the nineteenth century A.D.
Most of these miniature paintings so far published are from manuscripts of the Svetambara Jaina sect. Of these a manuscript of the Kalpa sutra in the Devas anapada Bhandar collection at Ahmedabad, painted at the Gandhara Bundara (port) on the west coast in c. 1475 A. D. with a lavish use of gold, lapis lazuli, carmine, etc., shows remarkable border decorations with paintings illustrating
༣༡
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org