Manasara Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Manasara-Shilpashastra; III. Manasara on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Manasara: Translation; V. Architecture of Manasara: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c40.s10: Jain Architecture
Mānasāra Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Mānasāra-Śilpaśāstra; III. Mānasāra on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Mānasāra: Translation; V. Architecture of Mānasāra: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c40.s10
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Jain Architecture
v6.c40.s10.1
The Jainas are known as the Digāmbaras and Śvetāmbaras. The former regard, at least theoretically, nudity 'as a sign of holiness, though they are now obliged to part from the outdoor practice of their theory.' The latter are supposed to be 'clad in white.' 'The Jaina religious theories and practices, in many respects, closely resemble those of the Buddhists.'⁴ They have 'no veneration for relics like the Buddhists. The proper objects of their worship are the twenty-four Jinas or *Tīrthaṅkaras*, but, like the Buddhists, they allow the existence of Hindu gods, and have admitted into their sculptures at least such of them as are connected with the tales of their saints, among which are Indra or Śakra, Garuḍa, Sarasvatī, Lakshmī, Asuras, Nāgas, Rākshasas, Gandharvas, Apsaras, etc., forming a pantheon of their own, divided into four classes, namely, Bhavanādhipatis, Vyantaras, Jyotishkas, and Vaimānikas. In architecture both Buddhist and Jain structures are more closely connected with the Hindu ones. The Jain style was ‘essentially Hindu,’ declares Fergusson, ‘and was doubtless largely common to all Hindu sects in Western India, but in its evolution it became modified by Jain taste and requirements.’¹ In fact the requirements alone have differentiated also the Buddhist architecture from the Hindu one. ‘And, the Brāhmaṇas in turn, through the influence of the workmen, gradually accepted most of the stylistic improvements of their rivals. This seems to have been more especially the case in Gujrat and Rajputana, where the Jainas were very numerous and influential, and we might almost with equal propriety designate their style of architecture as a western Hindu style.’¹
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⁴ 'The Jainas acknowledge no supreme governor, believe in transmigration, regard all animal life as sacred, and revere the Jinas or *Tīrthankaras*. They consist of ecclesiastics—*Yatis* or *Sādhus*—and lay believers or *Śrāvakas*.
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¹ Fergusson, *Indian and Eastern Architecture*, II, 5.
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‘The religion of the Buddhists and that of the Jains were so similar to one another, both in their origin and their development of doctrines, that their architecture must also at first have been nearly the same. A strong presumption that the architecture of the two sects was similar arises from the fact of their principal sculptures being so nearly identical that it is not always easy for the casual observer to distinguish what belongs to the one and what to the other; and it requires some experience to do this readily. The *Tirthankaras* are generally represented as seated in the same cross-legged attitude as Buddha, with the same curly hair, and the same solid contemplative expression of countenance. The Śvetambara Jains are also clothed much like the Buddhists.’² Thus, like those of the Buddhists, there are Jaina caves at Orissa, at Badami and Aihole, at Dharasinva, Ankai and Elura. There are again the Jain monolithic pillars at Elura and other places much like the Asoka pillars of the Buddhist style. But the Jain structural temples at Lakkundi, Palitana, Girnar, Mount Abu, Pareshnath, Ranpur, Gwalior, Khajuraho, Chitor and other places have more resemblance with the Hindu temples. In fact hardly any distinction is noticed between the Hindu temples and modern Jain temples at Sanogarh, Ahmedabad, Delhi and other places.
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² *Ibid*, pp. 6-7.
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There is, however, a marked difference of the Jain architecture of the north and of the south. ‘The first peculiarity that strikes one as distinguishing the Jain architecture of the south from that of the north, is the division of the southern temples into two classes. Bastis (*Basadi*, *Vasati*, monastery or temple) and Bettas (? *Vasahika*, buildings, including monastery and temple). The former are temples in the usual acceptance of the word, as understood in the north, and, as there, always containing an image of one of the twenty-four *Tīrthaṅkaras*, which is the object there worshipped. The latter are unknown in the north; and are courtyards usually on a hill or rising ground, open to the sky and containing images, not of a *Tīrthankara*, but of Gomata or Gomateśwara so called, though he is not known to the Jains in the north.’ While the Jain Bastis at Sravana Belgola would look like an ordinary Hindu temple, the lamp-bearing pillar before it, as also at Guruvāyankeri, resembles the Buddhist free pillars. But the Jain temples at Mūdābidri and its pillars have similarities with the Buddhist pagodas and pillars of the far eastern colonies of the Hindus.¹
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¹ See Chap. IX.