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THE WORLD OF JAINISM
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under the Rashtrakutas At Ellora, Ankai-Tankai and Dharashiva we have Jain caves which indicates that Jainism remained popular till at least the 10th, 11th century AD
Karnataka's contact with Jainism is traditionally associated with the migration of Digambaras under Bhadrabahu to this region in the early centuries before the Christian era It flourished under the Gangas and later the Kadambas Even today we come across deserted ruins which once formed active Bastis of the Jains
As has been pertinently observed by Dr S B Deo, Jainism seems to have spread in successive phases of migration rather than a continuous connected chain of events and also that the Digambaras seem more restricted to the south and the Svetambaras to, the north
The early Jaina art is characterised by simple figures such as those of Parsvanatha or the Tirthankaras from the Chausa, the Akota and the Vala hoards In the North-Western regions of Gujarat/Rajasthan with the employment of marble a new tradition of highly decorative art appears to have been started It also influenced even the art of metal sculpture of the Jains Compositions in metal such as the Samavasarana or the Chaturvımsatı Pattars (Fig. 11) go to indicate the extent of influence exercised by this new trend Though the Jain religion at no stage enjoyed the status of a state religion, the affluent Jain merchant community was responsible for munificient donations which went a long way in building up the traditions of the Jain art
In harmony with the indigenous traditions of the respective regions the composition varies from the representation of the eight Pratiharyas in case of Northern sculptures (Fig 4) to a scroll emanating from the mouth of gargoyle on either side and terminating into a Kirtimukha on the crest in the case of Southern images (Fig 5) The triple umbrella over the Jinas too differs in form in the northern and southern images. Once again the simpler composition of the stele from Karnataka is in contrast with the elaborate form of the northern one, the obvious reason for this could well be the difference in attitude between the Digambaras and Svetambaras Nevertheless, in the Deccan at places such as Ankai we see the lingering influences of both the Northern and Southern traditions
After the eighth century, Jainism too appears to have fallen in line with the increasing tendency to produce miniature metal shrines which were installed and worshipped in private homes But as mentioned earlier, such shrines became increasingly elaborate in later centuries to the extent that they gradually lost their aesthetic value It is a common practice among the Jains to have "Chaitya-griha" or portable metal
