Collecting Devotion: Temples to Jinas

Votive stone tablets are amongst the earliest remains of Jain devotional and ritual culture. These are characteristic of the site of Mathura (Uttar Pradesh, India) between the 2nd century BCE and 3rd centuries CE and were used as objects of worship, possibly set up for veneration on altars under trees and later in shrines. Known as ayagapatas, these devotional plaques from Mathura are significant as they represent the earliest images of the Jina as a mortal. These were often inscribed and recorded the names of donors and their families.
Though well-known in Buddhist practices, the Mathura ayagapatas provide evidence for the existence of stupa veneration amongst the Jains as well. Sculptural remains from Mathura reveal that ayagapatas were placed horizontally on pedestals, sometimes next to stupas or in temples and monasteries, and could be circumambulated while performing worship rituals. Remains of a stupa, including railings, and pillars carved with yakshis or protector/ attendant deities associated with auspiciousness and fertility have been found from Mathura. Jain stupa structures have not survived but we do have surviving rock-cut monuments, followed later by built temples, where Jain artistic and architectural practices, along with the Jain pantheon and iconography, continued to develop.
The earliest rock-cut sites were primarily residential cave sites for ascetics and were decorated with auspicious and vegetal motifs, similar to those found in ayagapatas. Jinas carved in high relief and seated on lion thrones or pedestals under a single or triple umbrella, accompanied by attendants, worshippers and celestial figures started appearing in the early 5th century. Here we feature early to late medieval cave sites at Ellora (Maharashtra), Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), Badami (Karnataka) and Kalugumalai (Tamil Nadu). Rock-cut Jinas appeared in groups or in their own shrines. They were often carved life-size or colossal as seen in Gwalior, and were accompanied by the eight great attributes that collectively form the ashtamahapratiharyas (lion throne, attendants with fly whisks, halo, umbrella, celestial drums, a sacred tree, a divine sound, and a shower of celestial flowers). Initially, as at Mathura, most Jina images were nude. Gradually differentiation between the Shvetambara (clothed and bejeweled) and Digambara (unclothed) images became apparent and by the end of the 7th century, each of the 24 Jinas was identified in sculpture through their own cognizance (ex. Mahavira’s cognizance is a lion) and later accompanied by their male and female attendant deities called yakshas and yakshis respectively.
Often these sculptures and rock-cut sacred spaces were painted. Epigraphic records indicate that patrons included royal families as well as lay Jains. Sites like Ellora and Badami were also a part of larger devotional and multireligious complexes.

Constructed temples rose to prominence during the Gupta period (ca. 320-647) and few surviving structures such as the temple dedicated to Vishnu at Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh, have helped us understand north Indian temple architecture. The North Indian or Nagara temple’s architectural components are also seen in Jain temples with regional variations that spill over into central and eastern India. Jains were part of a larger social fabric and hence one sees exchange with and borrowing of ideas from other mainstream traditions reflected in architectural features as well as the wider Jain pantheon.

Known variously as Jinalaya, Jinabhavana, Basadi, Basti, Vihara etc. and bearing structural similarities with Hindu temples, Jain temples are distinct in their ritual usage as well as spatial organization, deriving from their religious and cosmological beliefs. Basic features of the Nagara temple consist of a sanctum enshrining the main image, and a mandapa (hall) or mandapas to be used for other religious purposes. The shikhara or tower in the Nagara temple refers to the whole superstructure of a curvilinear spire over the sanctum and was sometimes combined with straight-edged stepped pyramidal design shikharas atop other halls. A circumambulatory passage was provided for devotees mostly in larger temples. A diverse iconographic program consisting of divinities, semi-divine figures associated with fertility or protection, vegetal, animal and floral motifs served as ornamentation. This basic structure developed into more complex designs with regional variations involving multiple shrines progressively multiplied, and smaller projecting shrine-like structures and taller towers.

In Jain temples the basic structure evolved into mandapas laid out in an axial line on a platform or on the ground, either with an open circumambulatory path or a series of 24, 52 or 72 smaller shrines serving as an outer boundary for the entire temple complex. Other types that emerged were the four-faced or chaturmukha temple with a four faced (sarvatobhadra) inner shrine; centralized eastern type temples, courtyard or haveli type temples; cosmological temple forms; hall type temples; domestic shrines and more. Although wood was used in the early phases of cave and rock-cut construction, bricks and dressed stone gradually replaced its use for structural temples, with stone emerging as the preferred choice. Jain temples especially used well-dressed ashlars of various shapes and sizes for the facing in combination with rough -dressed stones for the hearting, all kept together by using principles of weight and balance and employing elaborately carved pillars and beams.

Western Indian Jain architecture is known as Maru-Gurjara, a term coined by the architectural historian Madhusudan Dhaky, as it covers a large area of Rajasthan and Gujarat. It achieved its most evolved and perfect form between the 11th and 13th centuries.
Characteristics of a typical Maru Gurjar temple include an oblong platform (jagati) with a centrally located stairway leading up to the platform floor in the front, axially located on which lies the main temple (mulaprasada) housing the sanctum (garbhagriha) enshrining the deity to whom the temple is dedicated (mulanayaka). A closed hall with walls (gudhamandapa) is attached to the main temple and in turn axially opens into a pillared vestibule with no walls (mukhamandapa), the latter making way into a colonnaded hall without walls (rangamandapa). This together with the vestibule in the rear is enclosed by 24 subsidiary shrines (Jinalayas) housing the 24 Jinas, whose conjoined porches form a cloistered corridor preceded by an entry hall. Sometimes more subsidiary shrines are added at the rear to reach a total of 52. The exterior is embellished by a combination of subsidiary shrine towers, stepped pyramidal and bell roof or cupola shaped towers over the other halls and main shrine. It is the interior that awes in its grandeur owing largely to heavily carved marble pillars, doorways, and ceilings and aural, sensorial and human elements impart to it the character of a living Jain temple.
The Maru Gurjar temples vary from the simplest in plan to a more complex one with multiple subsidiary shrines and open porches and entry points. Displayed here are two of the most well-known amongst the western Indian group- the Dilwara temples at Mt. Abu and the Dharana Vihara at Ranakpur.
Patronized by Jain ministers of the Solanki dynasty, the earliest temple at Mount Abu near Dilwara village was built by Vimala and titled after him as Vimala Vasahi. Dedicated to the first Jina Rishabha, it was consecrated in 1032 CE, and two centuries later in 1230 CE, two brothers Vastupala and Tejahpala, also ministers to the Solanki rulers erected the Luna Vasahi dedicated to Nemi the 22nd Jina. The Luna Vasahi is representative of the 52 Jinalayas and both these temples have elaborately carved interiors as well as spectacular colonnaded halls. Due to damage sustained in 14th century raids, many of the original Jina sculptures were replaced during renovations carried out in later periods.
The Dharana Vihar at Ranakpur consecrated in 1440, is an important and one of the earliest surviving example of a chaturmukha temple where the layout is based on a fourfold principle of planning. Here the main sanctum housing a four-fold image facing the cardinal directions is connected directly on all four sides with colonnaded halls, omitting the closed halls and vestibules. Often storied halls are added on all sides and as many as 84 smaller shrines surround the structure. The Dharana Vihar covers an area of 3720 square meters and has 29 halls supported by 420 exquisitely carved pillars.
Concentrating on the harmony of forms and details, the western Indian Jain temple, in its replication of shrines, columnar halls and Jinas, symbolized the philosophy of the endlessness of liberated souls existing in eternity. The harmonized organization coupled with ornate marble interiors and circular ceilings emphasized spirituality and transcendence.

The Jain temples of South India are located south of the Vindhyas and depending on the area are constructed from red sandstone (southwest part of the Deccan plateau); talc or soapstone (western part of the Mysore plateau); marble or limestone (lower Krishna valley); and granite and gneiss (Southeast Deccan plateau and the southern part of the peninsula).
The Jain temples of this region are also characterized by the style typical of southern Indian temples, called the Dravida style. Typical of this temple style are a storeyed sanctum and a cupola top. The sanctum core or alpha vimana is elaborated with corner (kuta) and side barrel vaulted (shala) aedicules, the latter bearing smaller wall shrines (panjara). The tower or shikhara is generally crowned with a rounded unit known as a stupi, miniature versions of which are repeated at lower levels. The simplest ground plan of a southern Indian Jain temple includes a square vimana sanctum with or without a covered ambulatory around it and a pillared hall of one bay (ardhamandapa) that may be approached from the ground by a stairway. In a larger conception, the sanctum opens into an intermediate vestibule between the shrine and the hall (antarala), followed in turn by a larger closed hall with walls (gudhamandapa) that opens into an open pillared hall called mukhamandapa or rangamandapa. The number of halls and entrances depends on the needs of the temple as well as the architect’s choice. Some Jain temples have three or five sancta vimanas opening into a single hall or multiple halls.
In contrast to eastern and central India, where the arrangement of architectural components such as halls is more compact, southern temples have larger number of halls and porches with a large scope for experimentation in the placing of individual elements. Temples range from simple open air images and shrines to multiple hall temple constructions, storeyed constructions, temples with multiple subsidiary shrines and finally temple cities with multiple temples located in close proximity at one site. Here we present varied examples ranging from one of the earliest structural temples at Jina Kanchi (Tamil Nadu) to open air stupa like bhattaraka samadhis at Mudabidri (Karnataka) and a four-fold (chaturmukha) temple at Karkal near Mudabidri.

Tirthas or Jain holy places are linked to the attainment of enlightenment or liberation by a Jina and other venerable ascetics. Pilgrimage sites may also be formed as a result of commemorating miraculously discovered Jina images or divine indications from intermediary Jain deities to build temples at a particular site. Some sites may be associated with other important events in a Jina’s life. Given the long history of the Jain tradition, many such sacred sites exist across the subcontinent and journeys to these places are believed to confer religious merit on the pilgrim. At some such holy sites, Jains built a multitude of temples and shrines in close proximity to each other, and these are referred to as temple-cities. Built over long periods of time, these temples display an amalgam of stylistic and regional traits. Developed out of clusters of temples, built within compounds and altered and expanded over time, these temple cities are generally located on hills. Humans cannot reside at most such sites but only visit during the day and leave before sundown.
Generally, a layperson, often at the behest of a monk, would lead the Jain community in the ritual of pilgrimage and provide for all the necessities entailed in the journey. Such patrons were called Sangha patis—leaders of the sangha—the four-fold Jain community of monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen, and tirtha patas (large scale paintings on cloth, or stone- called pattas) were sometimes commissioned to commemorate the pilgrimage and honor the patron. Some such cloth patas are displayed here. Although a long standing practice, in recent decades, imitations on a small scale of such holy sites have also been created in India and abroad. Many temples display stone/metal plaques or murals of holy sites on their walls to offer darshan (religious seeing) to visitors. Such representations in art and recreations of tirthas allow an opportunity for mental pilgrimage to those unable to visit the site and avail religious benefit. However, for non-image worshiping Jains, a journey made to visit a venerable ascetic is also considered a pilgrimage and the mendicant is considered a ‘moving tirtha’. Pilgrimage and religious giving is for the Jain laity a means of following the path laid down by the Jinas, especially the vow of non-possession as through charity in the form of alms, temple building, installation of images, copying manuscripts, organizing and going on pilgrimage, and veneration of the Jina and ascetics, Jains give up some of the wealth acquired while earning religious merit.
Amongst the Shvetambaras, a group of five holy places is considered the most important. These are Shatrunjaya, Abu, Girnar, Sammeta Shikhar and Ashtapada. Of these, Ashtapada is a legendary mountain (often associated with Mount Kailash in the Himalayas) where the first Jina, Rishabha, is believed to have achieved liberation. Girnar, Shatrunjaya and Sammeta Shikhara find the most representation in visual art like cloth, metal or stone plaques, and wall murals. Aligned to a geographical and sectarian pattern, malor Shvetambara tirthas are located in Rajasthan and Gujarat and Digambara ones in Karnataka and Maharashtra. Important Digambara tirthas include Shravana Belgola and Mudabidri in Karnataka. Tirthas like Pava near Patna in Bihar (associated with Mahavira’s death) and Sammeta Shikhar are sacred to both Shvetambaras and Digambaras.

Translated as “the white lake of the ascetics,” Shravanabelagola is a Digambara Jain pilgrimage site in southern Karnataka. Its main feature is a small lake on each side of which lies a hill, the bigger one known as Indragiri (or Vindhyagiri) and the smaller hill Chandragiri. Its fame derives from a 57 feet high monolithic sculpture of Bahubali, standing on the summit of Indragiri. This colossal sculpture was erected by Chamundaraya, a general of a Ganga dynasty king in 981 CE. Bahubali, also known as Gommateshwar is believed to be the eldest son of Rishabha, the first Jina. It is to Bahubali that Rishabha bequeathed his kingdom when he renounced the world. After defeating his half-brother Bharata in a duel, Bahubali refrained from killing him and chose to renounce the world. Digambaras believe Bahubali to be the first person in the world to achieve liberation. His iconography is distinctive as he is believed to have stood steadfast in meditation for so long that creeper vines entwined on his legs and ant hills covered his feet. He is always depicted as standing in a meditative posture with arms by his sides, having discarded all clothing and with creepers crawling up his legs.Though not a Jina, Bahubali has been considered important since the 7th-8th centuries. Every twelve years, Jain pilgrims from all across gather at Shravana Belgola for a head anointing ceremony in which Bahubali is anointed with many pure and auspicious substances such as milk and saffron.

Shravanabelagola had special sanctity for the Jains prior to the establishment of the Bahubali monolith there. For generations Chandragiri has been a hallowed spot for Digambara ascetics for undertaking controlled religious death by fasting (sallekhana). Further it is important for its association with early Jain history and the journey of the great teacher Bhadrabahu and his disciples from the north towards southern India to escape famine. Memorial stones called nishidhis (stone, reliefs, pillars, images, temples), dating from the seventh to the tenth centuries commemorate the religious death of ascetics at Chandragiri hill. After the tenth century, records also include Jain laypeople. Similarly, warriors also were honored and hero stones commemorating those who died a violent death were placed alongside the nishidhis of brave ascetics who fasted to death. Royal connections and foundation of a monastery (matha) with large scale endowments at Shravanabelagola helped it become one of the most important ritual centers of South Indian Digambara Jainism and continues to be a seat of bhattarakas (successive clerical heads) who claim descent from Chamundaraya’s guru Nemicandra.

The photographs presented here speak to the ritual importance of Shravanabelagola for the Jains and have all been taken by Leonid Plotkin who generously shared his work with us.

Leonid Plotkin
Born in Vilnius in 1972, Leonid Plotkin grew up in America, studied law in Boston and Oxford, and then practiced law in New York City. He has worked as a freelance documentary photographer since 2007. He is the author of the photo book "Nostalgia for Eternity: Journeys in Religion, History and Myth on the Indian Subcontinent". His work has also appeared in various international publications including National Geographic, National Geographic Traveler, the Times Literary Supplement, the Guardian, Conde Nast Traveller, and the Economist. Leonid spends most of his time out in the world but calls New York City home. Long before he had the opportunity to set out on the road, Leonid was interested in the world and travel – in history, mythology, and religion.Fascinated by the historical and cultural continuity of life on the Indian peninsula during his initial trip to the subcontinent in the mid 1990s, Leonid returned frequently and, over two decades, stayed for more than five years to study and photograph India’s religious traditions. His photographic work constitutes a meditative contemplation of the human yearning for transcendence, and his photographs evoke the timeless intensity of man’s attempts to approach the eternal.

During the 1890s some Jains began to migrate to eastern Africa, leading to the establishment of temples in other countries. One of the earliest Jain temples to be constructed outside India was in Nairobi, Kenya in 1926. Now Jains have a global presence and large communities are settled not just in East Africa, but also Britain, Europe and North America. While Jain ascetics are not allowed to travel by transport and must walk on foot, there have been exceptions to this rule. With growing needs of the diasporic community some teachers have provided the community the spiritual support it needs. In recent decades, lower order Terapanthi male and female ascetics have been granted special dispensation to travel abroad, to study, advocate Jain ideals and support the community’s religious needs. We already came across the example of Acharya Sushil Kumar (1926-94) who in 1975 traveled by air to the United States and with lay supporters founded Siddhachalam, a religious center in New Jersey.

Many Jains including the diaspora are followers of Srimad Rajcandra (1867-1901), a layman from Gujarat, whose teachings on the true nature of the soul based on Digambar texts, especially Kundakundacarya’s writings, had a tremendous influence on the community. Rajchandra is most well-known for his association with Gandhi and though he did not travel abroad, many temples with sections dedicated to him exist in East Africa, Britain and North America. Another successful 20th century movement has been the Kanji Swami Panth centered in Songadh, Gujarat. A charismatic leader, Kanji Swami emphasized spiritual inwardness and postulated a form of Jainism which is less ritualistic and ascetic. He himself visited Mombasa in order to preach and inaugurate temples abroad. Kanjiswami has a large following in India and abroad, especially Britain and North America. Many members of the Phoenix Jain community are ardent followers and maintain close connections with Songadh.

Since the 1960s large numbers of Jain temples have been constructed in Kenya, Great Britain, United States of America, Canada, Japan, Belgium and more. While trying to abide by the architectural and municipal norms of the locality they prosper in, these temples may or may not retain traditional features of an Indian temple. As seen in the examples here, some have incorporated the concept of toranas (gateways), shikharas (towers), manastambhas (symbolic free-standing pillars) and are constructed in white marble or red sandstone. While some continue to function as neutral community halls, there are also temples that might be used by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs simultaneously, with sections devoted to specific deities. Some contemporary temples in India and sections in temples abroad focus on meditation and scriptures and have sacred scriptures engraved on their walls. Depending on the context, the patrons' affinities, means, rules and regulations, these temples take on various forms and meanings.

Jainism has had a long presence in Pakistan since early historical times as evidenced from archaeological remains from Sirkap. The Sultanate and Mughal periods also display some Jain presence, especially through the efforts of the Kharatara Gaccha monks, in particular Jinkushalsuri (1280-1332), the third dadagurudev (miracle-producing monk) of the order. A network of dadabaris dedicated to Jinkushalsuri were found in Derawar, where he breathed his last, and places like Halla, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Lahore, Narowal, etc. The influence of the Kharatara Gaccha ebbed as a result of the dominance of non-image-worshiping sects in the Punjab region (Lonkagaccha) in the 17th and 18th centuries. However, it was Vijayanandsuri of the Tapa gaccha (1837-1896) who with his charisma was able to win back many followers to the Shvetambara murti-pujak (image-worshiping) fold in the late 19th century. At the eve of partition in 1947 almost the entire Jain population in the region migrated to India, except for a few households in Nagarparkar. Much research needs to be done to fill in the gaps in the history of the Jain tradition in Pakistan but under the leadership of Peter Flugel (Centre of Jaina Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies), a project was undertaken in 2015-17, in collaboration with a research team of the Nusrat Jahan College, in Rabwah, Pakistan. After extensive field work, their study led to the systematic documentation of a number of Jain sites along with a historical and demographic study of the Jaina sectarian traditions in the region. The map seen here, shared by Peter Flugel, marks these sites.

Jain Temple of Nagarparkar
Bazaar Mandir or the Jain temple of Nagarparkar is an early medieval period monument situated in the town of Nagarparkar, Tharparkar district in Sindh, Pakistan. The temple stands elegantly on the Nagarparkar-Sardharo road, at the western end of the old Bazaar of Nagarparkar facing the magnificent granite mountains of Karunjhar range. Though the date of construction of this temple and the prana pratishtha (consecration) of its mulanayaka (Vardhamana Mahavira’s Pratima) is not known, its architecture and art have some key hints to contextualize it in the greater landscape of Tharparkar. The temple has more than 80 sculptures of tīrthankaras, Shasana devi and devas, other minor deities, and animals in-situ fixed mostly on the outer surface of the temple. At least 5 sculptures of tīrthankaras have been recovered from the temple during renovation work and have been shifted to a newly built Museum in Nagarparkar. The temple interior is adorned with numerous fresco paintings covering almost all the walls and domes. These frescoes include images of tirthankaras, tirtha patas (pilgrimage maps) of Shatrunjaya and Ashtapada, five auspicious events in the lives of Jinas, narrative tales like the story of Elaichi Kumar, and images of elites who were probably the patrons of the Jain community in this region. The multiple offsets, several projected niches to house icons in addition to the basic Nagara Style of temple architecture align it with Maru-Gurjara of the Solanki style of temple construction that prevailed in the time of Kumarpala and became traditional Jain style in Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Tharparkar in the subsequent centuries. The temple complex has a community hall, gaushala (cow shelter) and a basement other than the vimana.
Text, Photographs and plans by Asif Mahmood Rana ( Doctoral Candidate, Department of Archaeology, University of Peshawar)