Mediaeval Temples of the Dakhan c13.s2: Śirpur

c13.s2.1

Śirpur is twelve miles west by north of Bāsim. A short distance outside the village, on the west, stands the old temple of Antariksha Pārśvanātha belonging to the Digambara Jaina community. At present, their principal temple is a very modern one in the village, but the other was the original one from which, according to tradition, the image was transferred, probably about the time of the Muhammadan invasion of the country. In the new temple they have the usual underground chambers in which to conceal their images in the event of a repetition of the treatment they once received at the hands of those iconoclasts. The old temple has an abraded inscription which seems to read *Samvat* 1334 (A. D. 1412), and the name Antariksha Pārśvanātha. The plan of the shrine is star-shaped, and the walls are decorated with bands of arabesque, no images being present except what were in the three principal niches. The temple gives one the impression of being unfinished, and it was probably erected quite a hundred years before the date of the inscription. Its erection was possibly interrupted during the early incursions of the Muhammadans into the Dakhan. The hybrid style of *śikhara*, which was commenced, but left unfinished, is manifestly later than the stone sculptured walls. It is of brick and mortar. The entrance doorway of the hall is elaborately carved and has images at the bottom on either side; but these would have been more or less hidden from outside observation by the covering porch when completed. Among these are nude Jaina figures, and above the lintel, upon the dedicatory block is a small seated Jina. There are now, in the shrine, two small marble Jinas, but neither of them is Pārśvanātha. They are much neglected and receive little attention. (Plate CII.)