DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27192#0107
Chap. V.
JAINA BASTIS.
79
replace in stone supports which in wood would have appeared
necessary to carry a heavy stone roof (Woodcut No. 305).
Their plans, as far as can be made out from photographs,
are those usual in Jaina temples—spacious, well-lighted porches
or mandapas—of which there are three in the larger temples and
two in the smaller—leading to a cell in which the images of
one or more of the Tirthankaras is placed, naked of course, as
the southern Jains belong to the Digambara sect.1 * *
Their age has been determined from inscriptions, and they
date from about the beginning of the 12th century downwards—
the finest belonging to the 15th century.
Besides the greater temples, there are several varieties of
smaller ones which seem peculiar to the style—such, for instance,
as the five-pillared shrine
at Guruvayankeri (Woodcut
No. 306) belonging to a
Jaina temple, in front of
which it stands. Four-
pillared pavilions are not
uncommon in front of Hindu
temples in the south. There
is a very famous one, for
instance, on the opposite
shore of India at Mamalla-
puram, but not one, that I
know of, with five pillars,
or with access to the upper
chambers. There are three
of these upper chambers in
this instance—the two lower
now closed, but apparently
originally open, but to what
use they were devoted, or
what purpose they were
intended to subserve, is by
no means clear. At the base 3°6- Pavilion at Guruvayankeri.
of the temple are a number (From a Photograph.)
of stones bearing images of serpents, probably votive presenta-
tions ; there are seven or eight of them, and the serpents them-
selves are some with one, others three, five, or seven heads.
A third feature, even more characteristic of the style, is found
in the tombs of the priests, a large number of which are found in
1 The three mandapas in the larger | the smaller ones, as the Tirthankara and
Bastis are known as the Tirthankara, ! Namaskara mandapas.—Dr Hultzsch’s
Gaddige, and Chitra mandapas; and in j ‘Epigraphical Report for 1900-1901.’
JAINA BASTIS.
79
replace in stone supports which in wood would have appeared
necessary to carry a heavy stone roof (Woodcut No. 305).
Their plans, as far as can be made out from photographs,
are those usual in Jaina temples—spacious, well-lighted porches
or mandapas—of which there are three in the larger temples and
two in the smaller—leading to a cell in which the images of
one or more of the Tirthankaras is placed, naked of course, as
the southern Jains belong to the Digambara sect.1 * *
Their age has been determined from inscriptions, and they
date from about the beginning of the 12th century downwards—
the finest belonging to the 15th century.
Besides the greater temples, there are several varieties of
smaller ones which seem peculiar to the style—such, for instance,
as the five-pillared shrine
at Guruvayankeri (Woodcut
No. 306) belonging to a
Jaina temple, in front of
which it stands. Four-
pillared pavilions are not
uncommon in front of Hindu
temples in the south. There
is a very famous one, for
instance, on the opposite
shore of India at Mamalla-
puram, but not one, that I
know of, with five pillars,
or with access to the upper
chambers. There are three
of these upper chambers in
this instance—the two lower
now closed, but apparently
originally open, but to what
use they were devoted, or
what purpose they were
intended to subserve, is by
no means clear. At the base 3°6- Pavilion at Guruvayankeri.
of the temple are a number (From a Photograph.)
of stones bearing images of serpents, probably votive presenta-
tions ; there are seven or eight of them, and the serpents them-
selves are some with one, others three, five, or seven heads.
A third feature, even more characteristic of the style, is found
in the tombs of the priests, a large number of which are found in
1 The three mandapas in the larger | the smaller ones, as the Tirthankara and
Bastis are known as the Tirthankara, ! Namaskara mandapas.—Dr Hultzsch’s
Gaddige, and Chitra mandapas; and in j ‘Epigraphical Report for 1900-1901.’