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https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27192#0061
36 JAINA ARCHITECTURE. Book V.
Mount AbU.
It is hardly to be wondered at that Mount Abu, anciently
Arbuda, was early fixed upon by the Hindus and Jains as one
of their sacred spots. Rising from the desert as abruptly as
an island from the ocean, it presents on almost every side
steep and rugged scarps some 4,000 ft. high, and the summit
can best be approached by ravines cut into its sides. When
the summit is reached, it opens out into one of the loveliest
valleys imaginable, about 6 miles long by 2 or 3 miles at
the widest' cut up everywhere by granite rocks of the most
fantastic shapes, and the spaces between them covered with
trees and luxuriant vegetation. The little Nakhi Talao, or
Pearl Lake, is one of the loveliest gems of its class in all
India, and a mile and a half from it, at Dilwara, the Jains selected
a site for their Tirtha, or sacred place of rendezvous. It cannot,
however, be said that it has been a favourite place of worship
in recent times. Its distance and inaccessibility were probably
the causes of this, and it consequently cannot rival either
Natrunjaya or Girnar in the extent of its buildings ; but during
the age of Jaina supremacy it was adorned with several temples,
two of which are unrivalled for certain qualities by any temples
in India. They are built wholly of white marble, though no
quarries of that material, except of inferior quality, are known to
exist within 20 or 30 miles of the spot, and to transport and
carry it up the hill to the site of these temples must have added
immensely to the expense of the undertaking.1
The more modern of the two is usually ascribed to the
same brothers, Tejahpala and Vastupala, whose names are
associated with the triple temple at Girnar (Woodcut No. 281):
the inscriptions, however, ascribe the erection and endowment
to Tejahpala alone, in memory of his brother from whom it is
also known as Luniga’s Vasati or temple. This, we learn from
the inscription, was consecrated in 1230 A.D., and for minute
delicacy of carving and beauty of detail stands almost unrivalled
even in the land of patient and lavish labour. It is dedicated
to Neminath, the 22nd Tirthankara.
The other, built by Vimala, a minister or governor under
Bhimadeva, in the year A.D. 1031,2 is simpler and bolder,
1 It is supposed the material must all
have been brought from Jariwav inA the
Bhakar district to the south-east of Abu,
near the shrine of Amba Bhawani. How
so much material and in such large
blocks could have been carried up the
mountain is difficult to conceive.
2 In an inscription recording a repair
of the temples in Samvat 1378, after
“theyhad been damaged by Mlechchhas”
(Moslims), it is stated that Vimala, by the
blessing of Amba, built the temple of
Adinatha in Samvat, 1088 (a.d. 1031).—
‘Asiatic Researches,’ vol. xvi. p. 312;
‘ Epigraphia Indica,’ vol. ix. pp. 148R
Mount AbU.
It is hardly to be wondered at that Mount Abu, anciently
Arbuda, was early fixed upon by the Hindus and Jains as one
of their sacred spots. Rising from the desert as abruptly as
an island from the ocean, it presents on almost every side
steep and rugged scarps some 4,000 ft. high, and the summit
can best be approached by ravines cut into its sides. When
the summit is reached, it opens out into one of the loveliest
valleys imaginable, about 6 miles long by 2 or 3 miles at
the widest' cut up everywhere by granite rocks of the most
fantastic shapes, and the spaces between them covered with
trees and luxuriant vegetation. The little Nakhi Talao, or
Pearl Lake, is one of the loveliest gems of its class in all
India, and a mile and a half from it, at Dilwara, the Jains selected
a site for their Tirtha, or sacred place of rendezvous. It cannot,
however, be said that it has been a favourite place of worship
in recent times. Its distance and inaccessibility were probably
the causes of this, and it consequently cannot rival either
Natrunjaya or Girnar in the extent of its buildings ; but during
the age of Jaina supremacy it was adorned with several temples,
two of which are unrivalled for certain qualities by any temples
in India. They are built wholly of white marble, though no
quarries of that material, except of inferior quality, are known to
exist within 20 or 30 miles of the spot, and to transport and
carry it up the hill to the site of these temples must have added
immensely to the expense of the undertaking.1
The more modern of the two is usually ascribed to the
same brothers, Tejahpala and Vastupala, whose names are
associated with the triple temple at Girnar (Woodcut No. 281):
the inscriptions, however, ascribe the erection and endowment
to Tejahpala alone, in memory of his brother from whom it is
also known as Luniga’s Vasati or temple. This, we learn from
the inscription, was consecrated in 1230 A.D., and for minute
delicacy of carving and beauty of detail stands almost unrivalled
even in the land of patient and lavish labour. It is dedicated
to Neminath, the 22nd Tirthankara.
The other, built by Vimala, a minister or governor under
Bhimadeva, in the year A.D. 1031,2 is simpler and bolder,
1 It is supposed the material must all
have been brought from Jariwav inA the
Bhakar district to the south-east of Abu,
near the shrine of Amba Bhawani. How
so much material and in such large
blocks could have been carried up the
mountain is difficult to conceive.
2 In an inscription recording a repair
of the temples in Samvat 1378, after
“theyhad been damaged by Mlechchhas”
(Moslims), it is stated that Vimala, by the
blessing of Amba, built the temple of
Adinatha in Samvat, 1088 (a.d. 1031).—
‘Asiatic Researches,’ vol. xvi. p. 312;
‘ Epigraphia Indica,’ vol. ix. pp. 148R