________________
The Jaina epigraphs also contribute not a little to our knowledge of ancient and medieval India. We have Jaina inscriptions from the days of Khāravela (1st century B.C.) to the days of Akbar, the great, and even afterwards. Among the important Jaina inscriptions, we may mention the Hathīgumpha inscription of Kharavela, the Mathura inscription, Paharpur Digambar inscription, from Rajsahi district, Bangladesh, the Aihole Prasasti of Ravikirti etc. More than five thousand Jaina epigraphs have so far been published and nearly 100,000 epigraphs still remain unpublished.
In the field of Art also, the Jainas have contributed a lot. The earlier temples have almost disappeared, but thousands of medieval Jaina temples still exist with all their glory in Gujarat, Rajasthan and parts of other states of Northern India. In South India, we still have many standing Jaina temples, especially in Karnatak and Tamilnadu. We have Jaina scluptures from the 1st century B.C. upto the present time and a few thousand such sculptures are preserved in different museums of India.
The present-day Jainas have still maintained their separate identity and fortunately the two warring sects, namely the Digambaras and the Svetambaras have come closer to one another. Their relationship with the Hindus is also. quite warm and cordial. The present speaker wishes them a very bright future.
* Professor, Dept. of A.1.H. & C., University of Calcutta, Calcutta
Jain Education International
163
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
