Even though Jainism is followed in some regions of the country, it has made a major contribution to the art and architecture of India. In general, it can be said that Jain art broadly follows both the contemporary style of Indian Buddhist and Hindu art. Still, the Jain needs are reflected by the iconography and the functional layout of the temple buildings.
When it comes to carving or erecting the Jain Sculptures, the people producing the same might not be Jain themselves but from local workshops patronized by all religions. However, the Jain illustrated manuscripts were written by the oldest Indian Jain survivors.
Jain Sculptures are identifiable only through subject matter, iconography, or inscription. Otherwise, Jain sculpture, in terms of style, ornaments, and subsidiary figures, is non-differentiable from the sculpture made for the other Indian religious groups.
Some features of Jain sculpture are distinctive, from imagery of other sects. which serves as the medium to identify the work as Jain in terms of orientation.
Represented seated in the lotus position or standing in the meditation Khadgasana posture, the Tirthankara icon is considered the most recognizable type of Jain Sculpture. Rigidly axial and usually nude, the sculptures of Trithankaras embody the ideal of a rigorous asceticism- central to the Jainism practice. There are no distinctive facial features, clothing, or hairstyles but can be differentiated based on the symbol or emblem (Lanchana) belonging to each Tirthankara except Parshvanatha. Only after the sixth century did some sects provide the Tirthankaras with the clothing for the lower portion.
Jain Sculptures surviving on the intact monuments act as valuable documents to understand how the imagery was used in the religious context of Jainism. While the icon of Trithankaras serves as the focal object of worship, a profusion of other kinds of imagery is also discovered adorning the other areas of Jain sacred structures.
The ruins of an apsidal temple and several rock-cut shelters can be found on the hills known as Udayagiri and Khandagiri in Bhubaneswar, Orissa. It is believed that Jain mendicants used to stay there in the rainy season. It is in the running friezes along the tops of the veranda’s rear walls, in tympana, on the exterior walls of the outdoor cells, and on the pillar capitals, where a wide range of relief Jain sculptures are found. The intriguing scenes of worship are depicted by some reliefs found there. For instance, a royal couple is carved on the reliefs, which are shown venerating the non anthropomorphic symbol on an altar.
The other imagery includes the images of animals, nature divinities (Yaksha and Yakshi), Lakshmi, the sun god (Surya), and more. A thousand years later, images of Tirthankaras and their messenger divinities were carved on the cave’s walls. And it was during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries a Jain temple and sculptures of Tirthankaras were further augmented on the site.
Also, in the medieval period, the inclusion of Jain temples on the Hindu sites was continued. Some of the finest Jain temples can be found in the areas of Gujarat and Rajasthan in the western part of the country. Vimla temple at Mount Abu is the major Jain pilgrimage site is located on the top of a sacred mountain in Rajasthan and is one of the finest Jain Sculptures in the country. At Jagat in Rajasthan, Ambika dated to a.d. 961, is another Jain temple with exemplary architecture.
The Jain Sculptures are the finest works associated with Jainism and form the most significant part of the historical architecture of the country. Tirthankara icon is considered the most recognizable and earliest form of Jain sculpture.
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