Jain Temple and Rock Sculptures, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. facebook/jainteerthkshetra (Like Page) youtube/jainteerthkshetra (Subscribe Channel) https://facebook/groups/jainteerthkshetra (Join Group) -: Temple Info :- Jain Temple and Rock Sculptures of Gwalior Fort The treeless Fort-rock of Gwalior rises abruptly from the plain on all sides. It can boast of a number of exquisite Jaina sculptures. Some are rock-cut and facing narrow ledges in the vertical walls of the solid rock. Others are free standing (not rock-cut) and have survived on the plateau; they are now mostly kept in the newly built Archaeological Museum. Our chronological frame for the Jaina sculptures, which must have been executed by more than one generation of artists, is 700-800. In spite of the iconoclasm of the Islamic invaders, the early Jaina sculptures of Gwalior have survived in fairly good condition so that their former splendour is not lost. The reliefs reproduced by us are cut into the cliff-wall below the Ek-khamba Tal (tal = tank) on the western side of the Fort-rock {south-western group), but there are early Jaina sculptures at other points as well. Naturally, Gwalior is above all a Hindu site. Two Hindu temples of the early period are still extant, the famous Teli-ka-Mandir (750-800) on the plateau and the small rock-hewn Caturbhuja Temple (876) a short way up on the left of the approach-road leading to the plateau. A medium-sized Jaina temple, dated 1108, has survived in dilapidated condition. However, there was a revival of Jaina art at a much later date, viz. in the 15th century under the predecessors of Man Singh Tomar (1486-1516). Several groups of Jina figures have been excavated in the steep cliff immediately below the walls of the fortress. “The rock sculptures of Gwalior are unsurpassed in North India for their large number and colossal size but from the artistic view point they are degenerate and stereotyped.” Well-known is the Urvahi group (“The western side of the hill is broken by the deep gash of the Urvahi ravine”). The largest Jina image of this group is a standing colossus measuring 57 feet (17.4 m) in height. However, the south-eastern group, half a mile in length and situated under the Gangola Tal is even more important than the Urvahi group. In 1527, the Urvahi Jinas were mutilated by the Mughal emperor Babar, a fact which he records in his memoirs. Babar wrested Gwalior gradually from the governor of the former Delhi Sultan who had taken possession of the Fort in the days of Man Singhs son. The rigorous iconoclasm of the Muslim invaders is well-known, but this is not to say that there was permanent hostility between Muhammedans on the one hand and Hindus and Jainas on the other. Often the contacts between the communities were so close that the orthodox members on both sides feared that their respective religions might lose their influence on the believers. Still, to this day the damage once caused by the invading armies can be seen in the whole of Northern India. Hindu art flourished at Gwalior in all periods. In 1093, Hindu architects completed the two Sas Bahu temples, both lavished with decoration, on the plateau of the Fort-rock of Gwalior. Much later, Gwalior came under the rule of the Tomara dynasty with Man Singh Tomar as the most prominent figure. This king built the magnificent Man Mandir and the Gujari Mahal, two palaces which are amongst the earliest specimens of Rajput architecture. The extant Jaina images of Gwalior display a remarkable thematic variety. We find Jina images and panels, two Jina compositions, one representation of Bahubali, the meditating saint, who is well-known on account of the huge statue at Shravana Belgola, and two compositions which show the resting queen (“mother of the Jina”) and Kubera-and-Ambika respectively. The Gwalior images are mostly rock-cut (cut into the cliff), and we will here concentrate on this part of the material.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 09:23:59 +0000
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