Jainism in Odisha (Orissa)

by Ashis Ranjan Sahoo | 2015 | 106,639 words

This essay studies the presence of Jainism in Odisha or Orissa by documenting the Art, Architecture and Iconography of Jaina images, relics, structures and establishments from different districts. In Odisha, archaeological evidences show how Jainism flourished during the 1st century BCE during the reign of emperor Kharavela, stating that Jainism wa...

Jain Architecture (Introduction)

The first principle of all art or architecture is the transformation of ideas into a visible object or symbolic expression. Architecture further serves as a kind of history. It is a standing and living historical record, providing a more vivid and lasting picture of a cultural tradition than conventional written history does. Jain pieces of art aim at elevating our spirit; they inspire religious values; and they present, in concrete form, the philosophical concepts and rules of conduct laid down in Jainism. Much has been written and discussed about Indian art and architecture, but the Jain art and architecture have been either generally been overlooked or neglected.

Jainism is one of the oldest religions of India and emerged out of a common background of Indian life and thought unlike Brahmanism and Buddhism in India and it has always influenced and has been influenced by contemporary life even to this day. Monuments of Jainism viz., caves and temples are found all over the Indian peninsula and they belong to various periods’ right from the dawn of Eastern Art to the present day. Jain monuments are thus integrated expressions of Indian art and architecture has contributed simultaneously towards the evolution of Indian art forms, structural means and decorative patterns. The technique developed in the making of the earliest Indian caves was used by all the early religions for rock-cut architecture for residential houses, temples and other religious places. Thus the art of Jain caves is a part of the main stream of Indian architecture, though there are certain features which are peculiar to Jain architecture of the different parts of India.

The earliest Indian building architecture were executed in perishable materials like wood, bamboo and straw that reflect in many details of earlier buildings in monuments hewn out of solid rock as copied down[1]. By the 5th century BCE, in its primal homeland of modern Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Jainism was widespread among the middle class, its lay followers, the sravakas and sravikas, were mostly engaged in commerce and academics. Thus, in order to allow permanency to their religious sanctuaries and objects of worship, they invariably used stone and metal.

The Barabar caves in Bihar represent the earliest remains of Indian religious architecture and belong to a sect allied to Jainism. Emperor Asoka gave orders to carve out these caves for the use of the “Ajivakas”, a sect whose founder Gosala was once closely connected with Mahavira but later parted company with him. The caves belong to the circa 3rd century BCE[2] and chronologically, the Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves in Odisha are the most important Jain monuments which should be considered next. The cave called Hathi-Gumpha is of the highest interest here, since it contains the famous inscription of the great Jain king Kharavela who ruled Odisha in the 2nd century BCE. This inscription is one of the most remarkable documents of Indian history, as it gives in chronological sequence a detailed account of Kharavela's career for 13 years after his coronation[3].

As for the antiquity of Jain architecture[4], the excavations of Kankali Tilla, near Mathura establish beyond doubt that the erection of Jain stupas took place several centuries before the Christian era. The intricacy and richness of their carvings are truly unsurpassed in the world. The caves of Sittanvasal near Pudukottai are assigned to the Pallava king Mahendravarman-I of the 7th century CE; the caves and temples at Badami in about 650 CE; the cave-temples at Ellora are among the richest expression of Indian architecture and sculpture. The Jain caves of Ellora are situated at the north end of the hill representing the final phase of the Indian rock-cut architecture which began about the 800 CE and continued for about two centuries.

After this period, the mediaeval Jain temples of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh boost the Indian architecture a new height. The temple-cities on Mt. Abu, Mt. Girnar and Mt. Satrunjaya are not only seats of great monuments, but great centers of pilgrimage to this day. The temple on Abu, known as Vimalavasati, built by Vimalasaha, minister of king Bhimadeva-I of Gujarat, in the 1032 CE and the temple called Lunavasati, built by ministers Vastupala and Tejapala of Gujarat in the 1231 CE, are two immortal productions of Indian temple architecture[5]. Khajuraho, the old capital of the Candela dynasty, in Madhya Pradesh has many beautiful temples-Vaisnava, Saiva and Jain-built in the 10th and 11th centuries CE[6]. The Jain temples at Osia near Jodhpur and on the Taranga Hills in north Gujarat deserve mention, but the “Caturmukha” or “Four-faced” temple dedicated to Adinatha, built at Ranakpur in Rajasthan in 1440 CE, is remarkable from several points of view.

In modern times the traditional art of temple-building has been principally patronized by the Jains, mainly in Gujarat and Rajasthan. The famous Jain temple at Ahmedabad, known as Hathising temple was built by Sheth Hathising Kesarising in 1844 CE. The sculpture and architecture of this temple has received high praise from art-historians and art-critics like Burgess, Fergusson and Anand Coomarswamy. The last renovation of the famous temple of Pancasara Parsvanatha at Patan in North Gujarat[7] has been completed recently in 1955 CE.

Jain Architecture of Odisha

Architecture of Jain monuments of Odisha is represented through the rock-cut caves and structural edifices. The earliest material specimens in form of cave architecture of the Jains in Odisha are noticed at Udayagiri and Khandagiri hills only where the structural edifices are very scanty in numbers. The ground plan of the apsidal structure on the crest of Udayagiri hill, a relief sculptures on the opening frieze of the facade of the lower storey of Rani-Gumpha of the same hill and Jain temple at Subei are the available evidences for description of structural shrines in different localities of Odisha attributed to various periods of history[8]. Apart from these, some Jain temples of late period with collection of large number of early and late medieval Jain sculptures, chaumukhas, yantras, etc. are found. These temples include Jain temple at the hill top of Khandagiri and Digambara Jain temple at Choudhury Bazar, Cuttack etc. Besides, at present, the Marwari and Gujarati people living in Odisha erected a number of Jain shrines very recently viz., Digambara Jain temple at Jaunliapati and Svetambara Jain temple at Alamachand Bazar of Cuttack etc.

Caves

Caves of the twin hills of Udayagiri and Khandagiri (Lat. 200 16' N; Long. 850 47' E) are one of the earliest groups of Jain rock-cut architecture, command a unique position in Eastern India in the field of history of rock-cut, architecture, art and religion[9]. These caves were first brought to notice by A. Stirling in the 1825 CE. These hills rising abruptly amidst a wide expanse of arid lateritic soil are separated from each other by a narrow defile through which passes the modern road from Bhubaneswar to Chandaka. The ancient names of the twin hills of Udayagiri and Khandagiri (broken hill) were Kumari and Kumara parvatas respectively. The scheduled situation of the hills not far from the ancient capital of Kalinga (more likely Sisupalgarh shows to the south-east of Khandagiri) was chosen as ideal rock-cut monastic retreat of Jains. All the caves have distinctive local names prefixed to gumpha (local word for cave). This place has had the distinction of containing inscriptional evidence well known as Hati-Gumpha inscription of Kharavela recording the achievement of the King. It is obvious that most of the caves were excavated during the regime of Mahameghavahana (1st BCE and CE). Some might have had an earlier origin. Not a single cave of this period was meant to be a shrine, all of them having been designed as the dwelling retreats (viharas) of the Jain recluses. It is also evident that Jain occupation of the hills was continuous with occasional breaks from even before the time of Kharavela down to the present day.

The exact number of rock-cut caves could not be ascertained at present as a number of caves had been completely or partially destroyed which are identified by their left behind traces. It has been reported that the site was honey–combed and found to have altogether 66 caves; 44 in Udayagiri, 19 in Khandagiri and 3 in Nilagiri (adjacent to the twin hills.). At present, there are only 18 caves in the Udayagiri, while the Khandagiri has preserved only 15 caves in various state of preservation. A considerable number of these are datable to the post-Kharavela period as well as early medieval period. These caves are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India, Bhubaneswar Circle. Each of the caves was numbered by Archaeological Survey of India in numerical numbers but their local names have been retained. The local names along with the numbers are given by the Survey[10].

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

B.J. Sandesara, Jaina Monuments of India, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, 1968, p.289.

[2]:

Ibid.

[3]:

N.K. Sahu, Kharavela, Bhubaneswar, 1984, pp.01-18.

[4]:

B.J. Sandesara, op.cit.

[5]:

E. Tomory, A History of Fine Arts in India and the West, Chennai, 1982, pp.106-107.

[6]:

Ibid., pp.100-106.

[7]:

B.J. Sandesara, op.cit., pp.291-292.

[8]:

G.C. Chauley, Monumental Heritage of Orissa, Delhi, 2004, pp.31-45.

[9]:

R.P. Mohapatra, Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves, Delhi, 1981, pp.01-15.

[10]:

D. Mitra, Udayagiri and Khandagiri, New Delhi, 1992, pp.20-70.

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