Jainism and its Art Presentation Speech Introduction Jainism is an ancient religion from India that teaches that

the way to liberation and bliss is to live a life of harmlessness and renunciation (denial, probably from wealth and luxury?). The aim of Jain life is to achieve liberation of the soul, very much like the Buddhists. The essence of Jainism is concern for the welfare of every being in the universe and for the health of the universe itself.

Jainism At A Glance
Jains believe that animals and plants (nature), as well as human beings, contain living souls. Each of these souls is considered of equal value and should be treated with respect and compassion. Jains are strict vegetarians and live in a way that minimises their use of the world's resources. Jains believe in reincarnation and seek to attain ultimate liberation - which means escaping the continuous cycle of birth, death and rebirth so that the immortal soul lives for ever in a state of bliss. Liberation is achieved by eliminating all karma from the soul. Jainism is a religion of self-help. There are no gods or spiritual beings that will help human beings. Mahavira is regarded as the man who gave Jainism its present-day form. Jains aim to live in such a way that their jiva (soul) doesn't get any more karma, and so that the karma it already has is either eliminated or helped to decay. They do this by following a disciplined life path. The path or Dharma (truth, teaching) that Mahavira advocated was one of strict asceticism, renunciation and moral cultivation. He instructed his followers to cultivate the three jewels of: Right belief Right knowledge Right conduct Jainism is concentrated largely in Gujurat, Rajasthan, parts of Bombay & states of Karnataka. At present, US, Canada, UK & East Africa have large Jain communities. Here are some examples of Jain temples outside India. This is the Potters Bar in UK and another Jain temple in Mombasa, Kenya.

Beliefs
Emerging from these three jewels and relating to right conduct are the five abstinences, which are the vows of: Ahimsa (non-violence) Satya (truthfulness) Asteya (not stealing) Brahmacharya (chaste living/bachelor) Aparigraha (non-acquisition) Anekantavada (relativity)

Jain Art
The art and architecture of the Jains have the main objective to maintain, preserve and glorify the culture extensively. They also glorify the devotees too internally with psychological bliss. Jainas realized that true art represents the spirit of true religion. Besides its religious value, it has been taken as a treasure of the country. That is why many Jain art centres have become tourist attractions now.

Architecture of Temples
These temples are places of worship where Jina idols along with demigods and goddesses are kept on stone or marble made altar under aesthetic beauty. Many temples have fine decorative art. There are two types of Jain temples: Shikar-bandhi Jain temple (one with the dome) and Ghar Jain temple (Home Temple without dome), placed within a personal residence. Sometimes it is separate room or structure in a compound. All shikar-bandhi Jain temples have many marble pillars, which are carved beautifully with Demi-god posture. There is always a main deity also known as mulnayak in each derasar. The main part of Jain temple is called "Gambhara" (Garbha Graha) in which there is the stone carved God idol. One is not supposed to enter the Gambhara without taking a bath and without wearing puja (worship) clothes. Here are some beautiful ruins of an ancient Jain Temple in Nangarparkar, Thar Desert in Pakistan. A Manastambha (column of honor) is a pillar that is often constructed in front of Jain temples. In north India, it is always topped by four Tirthankara images, a human being who achieves enlightenment (perfect knowledge) through asceticism and who then becomes a role-model teacher for those seeking spiritual guidance. (Refer to pic, Dashavatra Temple). Manastambhas in South India are generally monolithic (column made from one single piece of stone). Here is an example of one in the Southwest of Ellora Cave 16 (kalisa). A Jain temple represents the samosharana of the Lord Tirthankara. According to the Jain tradition, a lofty manastambha stands in front of the samosharana, which causes someone entering a samosharana, to shed his pride (Mana). A monolithic manastambha is a standard feature in the Jain temples of Mudabidri. (Which is usually found in..?) They include a statue of Brahmadeva on the top as a guardian yaksha.

Ellora Caves
These are photos of the Jain cave temples in the Ellora caves. Take note of the carvings as we will explain them to you in our next slides.

Jain Sculptures
These figures, also known as tirthankaras are the principal focus of Jain art. Tirthankara is a human being, who in addition to achieving liberation and enlightenment as an "Arihant" (by destroying all of their soul constraining (ghati) karmas) they are role models and leaders for those seeking spiritual guidance. At the end of his human life-span, a Trthakara achieves siddha status, ending the cycle of infinite births and deaths. The highest ideal in Jainism is the wandering, possessionless, and passionless ascetic, which is why jinas are always depicted as mendicants (beggars) or yogis. They are portrayed in only two positions: either seated in the lotus posture (padmasana) or standing in the exclusively Jain bodyabandonment posture (kayotsarga).

Jain Miniature Paintings and Illustrated Manuscripts

The distinguishing features of the Jain painting are its linear energy and taut angular outlines of the face. Jain paintings could be roughly divided into three periods palm-leaf period, paper period and late period. We are not able to find any pictures of the paintings from the Palm-leaf period, only those from paper period and later. In the first 2 periods, Jain paintings retained its distinguishing characteristics such as angularity in drawing, protuberance of the further eyes etc.(Refer to pic- Paper Period) This is a page from a Kalpasutra manuscript showing women of the royal household celebrating the sixth night after the birth of Mahavira. Here, you can see that the eyes are unnatural and it looks very much like a cartoon. In the third period, which begins in the 17th century, these characteristics were lost under the Mughal influence. It became a more realistic portrayal, in this case, it became less angular (refer to pic). (Refer to pic- Late period) This is a Page from a Samgrahanisutra manuscript, 1630. The Samgrahanisutra is a cosmological text composed in 1136 that includes Jain ideas about the structure of the universe and the mapping of space. This page shows the influence of the prevalent Mughal style on Jain art in the early 17th century, when the Mughal empire was at its height. Jain manuscript painting was widely spread in western India. Gujarat was perhaps the most important centre for illustrated manuscripts.

Similarities and Differences

Similarities 1) The main part of Jain temple is called "Gambhara" (Garbha Graha) in which there is the stone carved God idol. In Hindu temples, they also have something similar to the "Gambhara". It is called the Sreekovil /Garbagriha. It is located in the main part of the temple, where in this case, statues of Hindu idols are placed.
2) The adhgajanyyah represents the parable of the blind man and the elephant, in

jainism. It also symbolises that jains contrast all attempts to proclaim absolute truth with adhgajanyyah. The Ganesha is a hindu deity and he represents children, remover of obstacles, among the things he is charged with. They are both similar as they use elephants to represent the beliefs of each religion. Differences 1) The Reservoir: If the temple is not in the vicinity of a natural water body, a reservoir of fresh water is built on the temple premises. The water is used for rituals as well as to keep the temple floor clean or even for a ritual bath before entering the holy abode. Whereas the Jains have no such thing. 2) Jain devotees often built temple cities. They would construct a cluster of temples at a specific site. Hindus on the other hand, built individual temples to worship in. 3) Jain temples are divided into different sections and chambers which are comparable to cities built within fortresses. Jain temples are often constructed this way due to its reputation of being the richest temples in the world, as they hold rich and valuable materials. Due to its defensive structure, the Jain temples generally have a colder feel about it. The Hindu temples are constructed solely for worshipping. For example, Hindu temples consist of the main hall, known as the mandapa, where devotees congregate for prayers, rituals and ceremonies. Due to the absence of defensive architecture, Hindu temples are therefore, friendlier compared to the Jain temples. Conclusion The contribution of Jainas towards art and architecture was especially important, particularly in the forms of sculptures, temples and paintings. Its art and religion spread all over the country and throughout the world from the earliest periods to the modern times. Weve come to an understanding of Jainsm through its art despite the difference in our culture and religion. This presentation has come to an end and we hope that you have gain some insight and knowledge about this topic. Thank you everyone