Medieval Jainism

SR No.: 011082
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Bhasker Anand Saletore
Publisher: Karnataka Publishing House
Total Pages: 448
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 27 MB

Page 157

142
MEDIEVAL JAINISM
celebrity in the land. He was not merely a pious Jaina; epigraphs praise him as a practical statesman. He held the posts of Great Minister, Senior Treasurer, Sarvadhikārī, and General. He was the honourable minister who managed the affairs of his royal master. He was cleverer than Yogandharāyaṇa in the management of affairs, and superior even to Bṛhaspati in the knowledge of politics. It is not surprising that such an eminent statesman should have served under three successive monarchs-Vişņuvardhana, Narasimha, and Ballāļa II.5
Minister-general Hulla's lasting contribution for the cause of Jina dharma was the construction of the famous Caturvimśati Jinālaya at Sravana Belgola. Since the record dated A.D. 1159 mentions some details concerning this temple, it must have been completed by that year. Together with its enclosures, dancing halls, two fine strongly built large Jaina dwellings at the side, and mansions with doorways resplendent with various elegant ornaments of foliage and figures, this matchless temple of Caturvimśati Tīrthankaras," when completed (obviously in the year A.D. 1159) presented the appearance of a charming ornament of Gommatapura.
Such a piece of devotional and architectural beauty could not go unnoticed by the Hoysala monarch Narasimha II. When that ruler was going on an expedition for the conquest of regions, he saw, "with great regard the Jinas, Gummata,
1. He is not to be confounded with Hullarasa, a Cāļukya headjewel, the son of Nāgarasa who was the son of Muddarasa, mentioned in a record dated A. D. 1079. E. C. V, Cn. 145, p. 188.
2. Ibid. II, 64, p. 18.
3. Ibid. II, 345, p. 147.
4. Ibid., II, 349, p. 153. 5. Ibid., Intr., 58; 101, 147.