Category: Workshop of Books

Jaina Culture The Jainas possess a distinct religion, a separate philosophy, a different ethical code, a set of peculiar beliefs, practices, customs and manners and a vast literature of their own. Though Jainas form a small minority at present, yet in the past they were not only numerous but also enjoyed royal patronage for a...

Valathy 187 (above), Natural cave near the wester outskirts of Valathy, a village with a 400-year-old temple and a Jaina congregation of about thirty families. Illustration 106 (above left) shows a close-up of the cave's undated sculpture. Time, it seems, was of little concern then-and still is when judged by the potter (ill 108) seen at...

Tirumalai Tirumalai. Bahubali visited by his two sisters. Eleventh century. A seated Mahavira flanked by two large lions grace this disused temple on top of the hill. Under the tree in the rear there are rock-cut footprints (padukas) commemorating the nirvana (death) of some  renowned ascetics. The temple-hill at Tirumalai (malai hill) is another ancient...

Melsittamur (left). General view of the towers of the 'new' (16th cent.) temple of Melsittamur as seen from the roof of a nearby build- ing. The two old templs (9th cent.), housing sev- eral impressive sculptures, lie a short way beyond the blackened tower. (far left below). Sculpture on a pillar facing from within the...

Thirunarungkondai This large Parshvanatha Temple at Thirunarungkondai, with its two towers of uniquely Tamil architecture, was built above and around a cave-like cleft between two boulders. During the month of May each year a festival, lasting for ten days, attracts thousands of pilgrims. (right). Detail of the above tower showing a seated Jina with chauri-...

Tirakkol The Jaina sights of Tirakkol a remote ham- let about 25 km north of Gingee - deserve to be seen twice: once well before noon, and another time in the afternoon. To get there, take a bus at Gingee bound for the market town of Desur. On arrival ask your way to the Jaina...

Ennyiramalai  Detail of an inscription at Ennayiramalai. The letters are Brahmi, the lan- guage is Tamil. See next page. A fascinating place of great antiquity, but little-known and difficult to locate. At some remote period it was the centre of a famous order of Digambara monks where hundreds of naked ascetics - popular belief speaks...

Tamilnadu Since Gingee, a minor town in Tamilnadu easily accessible by bus from Madras, Pondicherry and Bangalore, has got a new hotel, conveniently situated opposite the bus stand, it offers itself as an ideal station for users of this guide. The two districts of North and South Arcot, with Gingee in the centre, constitute a...

Tha Genesis and Spirit of Jaina Art Jyoti Prasad Jain The avowed aim of the Jaina religion is the perfection of man, or the transformation of the individual mundane soul (atman) into the very state of Godhood (paramatman). It exhorts and helps to bring out the divinity inherent in a person through the realization of...

Gommatagiri Close-up of the five and a half metre high Bahubali at Gommatagiri. Hewn from black granite, the statue (right) stands on a solitary hillock about twenty-five kilometres north-west of Mysore city on the road to Hunsur. The inhabitants of the sparsely populated area call the colossus 'Shramana Gudda'. For an unknown of time it...