Author: Rahul (Page 11)

VISHNUPADA – TEMPLE AND OTHER IMPORTANT AT GAYA TEMPLES GAYA:

The Eternal City Gaya, located in south Bihar, stands on the banks of river Falgu and is girdled by seven hills. The city is well connected with all important centres of India by railways and bus routes. The holy land of Gaya has been the earliest centre of various religious doctrines and civilisations of the pre-Aryan tribes of Vraryas Kikatas and Asuras, as well as, of the Aryans, Buddhists, Jainas and neo Brahmanical Hindus. The Vedic name of the Gaya-region was Kikata  afterwards, Magadha. The city of Gaya or Gayapuri has derived its name from the Rajarshi Gaya (Mahabharata, Vana-Parva,) and the Siddha demon, Gaya-Asura, lent his name to Gaya-Kshetra (Vayu Purana,)., “There is hardly any city in the world that can claim greater antiquity, greater sanctity and greater veneration than Gaya.” (History of Dharmasastra,).

GAYA:

The Temple City “Our temples and centres of religious pilgrimage are our heritage and give the configuration of India’s personality. Under the patronage of benevolent kings and generous persons, hundreds of temples have been built and re-built in the ancient and renowned Gaya-Tirtha, since the time of the great Vaishnava Gupta Emperors of Magadha (4th/5th century A.D.). The ruins of Hindu Gaya bear sufficient evidence of the ruthless destruction of numerous shrines at the hands of the iconoclast Moslem rulers. But with the rise of the Maratha power, early in the 18th century. Gaya again resumed its religious activities and glory, as it is seen today.

VISHNUPADA- TEMPLE

The Vedic Vishnu is a prominent god of the Hindu Trinity. He is responsible for preservation and prosperity. Yaska giving an explanation of a Rig Vedic verse states that Trivikrama-Vishnu set his foot on Vishnupada and Gayasuras. Both of them form holy spots of Gaya, where Pindas are offered to the manes by the pilgrims. The existence of the Vishnupada temple at Gaya in the time of the great Vaishnava Gupta Emperors of Magadha is evident from the discovery at Vaishali of a terracotta seal containing Vishnu’s emblems “sankha, chakra and gadha” with the legend ‘Vishnupada Swami Narayana’ and this seal must have come from the famous Vishnupada-temple of Gaya.

THE RANAKPUR TEMPLE

One of the most famous temples of Rajasthan, was built in 1436 A. D., at Ranakpur in Jodhpur on an area of 40,000 square feet. This three-storeyed massive structure, is four-faced (Chaturmukhi) and has 26 mandapas and 420 pillars. The carvings on the pillars and columns relate to various aspects of Jainism. The one beauty of art displayed in this temple is that the carvings on the pillars are different. The temple is dedicated to Adinath, whose quadruple image graces the main shrine.

JAIN TEMPLES AT HALEBID

Sixty four miles away from Shravanbelagola, we come across three famous Jain temples at Halebid. The Parashvanath temple, the largest and the most important of the three, was built in 1133 A. D. at Halebid. It has a standing statue of Parashvanath, the 23rd Jain Tirthankara. It has 14 pillars.

The temple does not have much ornamentation outside, but the carving and the workmanship on the inside are superb and can be appreciated better by seeing than by reading a description of it. The other two important temples are dedicated to Rishabhadeva and Lord Shantinath. The Shantinath temple like the statue of Parshvanath has a 14-feet tall image of Shantinath.

JAIN TEMPLES IN KHAJURAHO

Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh is known for its temples. Exquisite specimens of Hindu architecture and sculpture are to be found there. The sculpture there pivots round “Woman” and is sensuous, but sublime. These temples were built between 950 and 1050 A.D. There are Jain temples too in Khajuraho, Parashvanath temple is the largest and the finest of the Jain temples found here. Its sanctum contains an ornamental throne and it has on its outside walls beautiful sculpture in not amorous but playful moods-a woman fondling a child, another writing a letter, a petite one, extracting a thorn from her foot and a woman at her toilet. The carvings on the ceilings are full of intricate workmanship.

NASIANA TEMPLE

A three-storeyed temple of Ajmer, known as the Nasiana Temple, is imposing in structure. It is one of the few temples with coloured pictures and glass engravings on the walls. It has been the seat of Bhattaraks, some of whom were very learned and famous masters. It has a big collection of hand-written Jain scriptures of the 15th century .The auditorium in this temple is quite spacious and well laid out.

JAIN TEMPLES IN SOUTH INDIA

The Jain temple of Meguti at Aihole in Bijapur, Deccan, was built in 634 A. D. by one Ravikirti during the reign of the Chalukian King Pulakesin I. It was built in the Dravidian style, following the model of the well-recognised group of temples which were flat-roofed and square, having a covered ambulatory around the sanctum and preceded by a porch in front. They were sometimes provided with a second storey. The quality of masonry and technique of this temple is commendable – while its ornamental work speaks of noticeable delicacy and refinement. The temple is a long rectangular building consisting of two parts-the shrine with its surrounding gallery and the front hall on pillars. These two parts are joined by a vestibule. This ingenuity in the designing of the temple had immense influence on future architecture

DILWARA TEMPLES

It is Situated at Mount Abu, two out of the five Dilwara temples built in pure marble at a height of more than twelve hundred metres above sealevel, are superb in architectural and sculptural efficiency and leave the visitors amazed at the achievements of those who took huge blocks of marble to that height and then handled them like any other easily maneuverable material. Mount Abu caters to the pleasures of a hilly resort but at the same has calm and quiet natural surroundings consisting of a valley covered with luxuriant vegetation. The whole region provides a beautiful background for these temples.

THE TWO DILWARA TEMPLES ARE KNOWN AS VIMAL VASAIHI AND LOON VASAIHI. The Vimal Vasaihi temple is dedicated to Adinath, the first Jain Tirthankara, whose image is installed in the main shrine. The second temple is dedicated to Neminath, the 21st Tirthankara whose big basalt image adorns the sanctum. Both these temples are built alike. The intricate and delicate carvings on the ceilings and walls illustrate incidents from Jain literature. These carvings and the exuberance of detail and effective repetition of motifs win appreciation even from the masters of art. The architectural efficiency and competence of those days in chiselling such remarkable carvings in stone, remains unrivalled till today.

JAIN TEMPLES

Jain temples are found all over India and are being built even at present by the votaries of this faith, but the ones that were built in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and South India when Jainism was supported by the royalty, are a sight to see. By the end of the third century, Jainism had taken firm roots throughout India. It had started from Magadha and slowly spread to Kalinga, now Orissa, in the east, Mathura in the north, Mahura in the west and Deccan and Tamil Nadu in the south. Royal patronage was one contributing factor to its rapid growth. It, however, soon lost grip on the royalty in the north. But the middle classes, composed of merchants, bankers and big businessmen, continued to be its strong supporters. In the South, Jainism gained popularity and the ruling families became its votaries up to the eighth century. It continued to have its strongholds south of the Vindhyas where famous Jain Temples were built in the caves as well as on the ground. These shrines hold their own against other notable structures of that kind. The Gupta period, when there was a revival of Hinduism, saw a decline of Jainism. In Bengal and ironically in Bihar, where it had originated, it lost its hold. The Ganga Kings of Mysore were intimately associated with Jainism. It is not possible to say exactly when temples started getting built in India. Moreover, the temples of the various faiths do not have substantial differences from the architectural angle. The difference mainly lies in the deities and subsidiary data and sculpture inspired by respective branches of mythology. The Jains, however, unlike others, selected picturesque sites for their temples, paying attention to the effect of environments on architecture. Comments from a foreigner that the ideology and spirit of the Jain religion and its culture are reflected in the Jaina art and architecture, are quite appreciative of the Jaina art.

Jain temples have sculpture of very high order which depicts themes that besides being monumental, have a religious appeal and ethical import. Jaina philosophy does not believe in god being the creator, sustainer or destroyer and as such idol-worship is not catered for by this faith. But idol-worship got introduced, because the common man wanted something to concentrate upon. It is presumed that idol worship among the Jains was allowed in the belief that it was ideal-worship and not idol-worship and that the image of the Lord would arouse a longing in the minds of the devotees to emulate the lord who had lived as a human being and whose soul had reached perfection. While this might be the justification to allow the building of temples, there is no doubt that in giving this sanction, weight would have also been given to the possibility of Jains going astray and worshipping elements of a non-Jaina character. The aesthetic side of the temple was given attention gradually during its evolution. It is, however, true that the real purpose of ideal-worship in the Jain temple, is not being achieved at present, as these have become places more for social gatherings rather than for peaceful meditation. A Jain temple is neither a funeral relic nor a memorial to some Tirthankara, nor a sanctified place because a certain Tirthankara went to moksha from that particular place.

A Jain temple, therefore, had to have the main deity and cater to the requirements of an auditorium. In this small article, it is not possible to deal with all the Jain temples in India, but it should suffice to describe the structural and other norms which must be adhered to. It is intended to give a detailed view of certain temples which have stood as landmarks in the annals of the Jain community in India. It is not intended to undermine the importance of other temples as they have their own importance, but the ones dealt with here are outstanding with respect to art, beauty and rare workmanship exhibited by the artists of this country. Jain Temples in Rajasthan The Jain faith gained ascendency in Rajasthan and from 8th to 10th century A. D. It had its hold on the royalty as well as the people in general, especially in the regions of Shirmal, Jalore, Osia, Chittoor and Mount Abu.

TEMPLES OF TAMILNADU

The temples of Tamilnadu, constructed during the last two millennia, fall into a few well defined periods of evolution. They may be called the Early Period, the Kochengat Chola Period, the Pandya cave temple period, the monoliths of the Pandyas and the Pallavas, the Golden Chola period, the Nayak period and the Modern period. All the periods, except the last, have made their original contribution to the development of the temple cult in Tamilnadu.

WHAT TEMPLES ARE?

We often hear people who are obsessed with what they see in churches and mosques, who attack our temples saying that they are very noisy and that worship or meditation is not possible in them. “Our temples are not churches in your sense of the word. Our temples are not organised as places for meditation, nor for congregational worship. The purpose of a temple is different. We enjoy the good things in life such as house, food, clothing, ornaments, music, dance, etc. We pay a tribute in the form of taxes to the king-now the Government-for making it possible for us to enjoy them by giving us their protection. The king-protector is provided with a place and other paraphernalia of royalty. Even as we render homage to the king for the enjoyment of these things, we are bound to render our gratitude to God who has primarily given us the good things of life. We offer a part of these good things as a token of our gratitude to Him in the temple. We first offer to Him all that He has given us, in the shape of food, clothing, jewels, music, flowers, light, incense, etc., with the grateful consciousness that they are His gifts to us; and we receive them back from Him as His prasaada. The temple is the place where these offerings are made on behalf of the collective community. Even if people do not go to the temple, it is enough if these offerings are made to God on behalf of the community. The duty of the people at the place is to see that these offerings are made in the proper manner. There are people who do not take their day’s meal till the temple-bell announces that the offering to God of food for the day has been done. Then only do they take their meal as Prasadam.

” According to the Gita if we enjoy these things without offering them first to the giver, it would tantamount to theft. It is through our five Indriyas, viz., eyes, ears, nose, tongue and touch that we receive the various impulses from outside and carry them to our brain. Each of the five senses contributes to our joy in life. It is this offering of the objects of the five-fold joys that is known as Panchopachaaraas to God, the offerings namely

1. Gandha (sandal),

2. Pushpa (flowers),

3. Dhoopa (incense),

4. Deepa (lamps)

 5. Neivadya (food).

If your jnanendriyas and their stimuli are reverentially offered to the Paramatma, then we shall not be inclined to misuse these sense organs.

BY SUCH DEDICATIONS TO GOD,

we deflect these from evil propensities and sublimate them to a divine goal. Besides the requirements which are the minimum sources of material pleasure, there are other things which make for life’s comfort, like house, clothes, conveyance, etc. These too are to be used only after they are offered to God. All such offerings are inclined in what is known as  shodasopachaaras (sixteen offerings). And then there are other sources of enjoyment like music, dance, chariot, elephant, horse, etc., applicable to the case of highly placed persons and which may be regarded as luxuries for the common man. All these should also be offered to God and they are included in the 64 or Chatushashti Upacharaas.