‘THE TEMPLE-CITIES OF THE jaINs 265 the builders failed to produce any appearance of height, so that the general effect of the elev: x ion is low and flattened although it contains passages which are well-proportioned and have no little are crit fectural merit. There are several other sacred sites of the Jains, DI or less to the temple Jan bunt nome af then fe aqua! in architsturel character tte eeets cine AS a cempleity, plan in Central India something of the kind has been conceived, as groups of temples in co: s been built on terraces on the hill side, most of them however of moderately revent date and in a style of tecture of a rather commonplace type, although the appearance of the whole is picturesque. ‘The same may be said of two other sites, that at Kundalpur in the Damoh district of the Central Provinces, where there is & cluster of some fifty temples, and at Mukhtagiri awalgarh in Berar. Parasanath, a hill in Bihar, has profoundly sacred associations alt hough its temples have litle but their sanctity to commend then. This short list does not profess to include all those high places where religious fervour found expression in tive raising. of temples and shrines ; there are other lofty and romantic sites where such buildings may be found, but- most, of these are important only from their religious aspect, as they consist of venerable but simple monum where the devout may perform the rite of punchanrya, and thus. worship the mountains as the feet of Jina of the ___ Taken as a whole the architectural character of the buildings comprising these “holy citi Jains is not of a particularly high order, Yet consisting of such a large number, and their production extending over a very considerable space of time, they cannot fail to be instructive. But the information they convey is not inspiring, their cold systematic compositions making litte appeal. There is a falling away of puwer in these stmictures, some of it undoubtedly due to the relatively late period in which many of them were ererted, when the first vigour of the style had passed. Compare any of the temples of the twelfth and Uhir teenth s pulsating with a fresh vitality, with those of the later style, and it will at once become appearent tl ‘was growing nerveless and the dynamic movement of the one being in strong contrast with the static condition of the other. That something happened to divide the two phases is obvious, and that circumstance was the full force of the Islamic aggression which was experienced at this juncture. For some time the mind of the people was stunned by these subversive influences, and the buildings reflect not only the effect of the religious impact but also the socio-political conditions that then ensued. From this state the country partially recovered, but it was never the same. The old arts continued to be practised, but the spirit of them passed very largely and almost imperceptibly into the more vigorous conceptions of the new power, In addition to the temple-cities just described, there are other sacred sites, mostly on the western side of the country, on which the Jains have built temples of great size and considerable architectural importance, Chief among these, and fully representative of the style, is the Chaumukh temple of Adinatha at Ranpur neat Sadari, in Marwar, situated within the Godvad province of Jodhpur State, An inscription on a pillar states that one Depaka was the architect, producing the building to the order of a ‘* devout worshipper of the Arhats,”” named Dharanaka in A.D. 1439. "Some idea of the proportions and complexity of this temple may be gained when it is realized that it coversa space of over forty thousand square feet, an area corresponding approximately to that of Wadham College, Oxford, and that it consists of twenty-nine hails containing as many as four hundred and twenty pillars, the designs of no two of which, are alike. Such a large and extensive conception can hardly claim to be a unified whole, and as a matter of fact it resolves itself into a comprehensive structural scheme consisting of an orderly aggregation of shrines, symmetrically disposed around a larger one entire complex erected on a loity plinth, and contained within a high and solid boundary wa rounding a square of two hundred feet side, is in reality the main feature of the exterior, as it forms the chief elevational aspect, recalling at the same time those battlemented fortifications of the temple-cities, but in (his instance treated more architecturally and also more pacifically. Not only does the wall with its massive sub- structure safeguard the sanctity of the shrines within, but it also emphasises by its almost unbroken circuit that desire for seclusion which seems essential to the devotional ceremonies of the Jains, In place however of the militant crenellations of the temple-city parapets, at Ranpur these take the form of light and graceful turrets, one above cach of the sixty-six cells, or bhamlis, attached to its inner face. Behind this outwork of pointed fanes rises an array of tall spires and rounded cupolas to produce a charmingly picturesque effe Of the sikharas there are five, the largest and most prominent surmounting the central sancluary, with each of the others over a comer shrine, while the cupolas are twenty in number, each forming the roof of a pillared hall, (Plate CNX), From the middle of three sides of the enclosing rectangle project the temple entrances, each a double storied portal of great elegance, that on the west being the largest, thus denoting the principal approach, Each af thece entrances leade throngh a series of colimned courts into the main halls of the temple proper, At first sight the interior appears to be a complicated labyrinth of courts and pillared halls, but its regular and Dalanced composition soon becomes evident. Reduced to simple terms it resolves itself into a temple