Dharna Vihara, Ranakpur / text, Saryu Doshi ; photographs, Thomas Dix.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Doshi, Saryu.

Contributor:

Doshi, Saryu.

Dix, Thomas.

Series:

Opus (Berlin, Germany) ; 17.

Opus ; 17.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Buddhist architecture--India--Ranakpur (Extinct city).

Buddhist architecture.

Decoration and ornament, Architectural.

India.

Buddhist temples--India--Ranakpur--(Extinct city).

Buddhist temples.

India--Ranakpur.

Decoration and ornament, Architectural--India--Ranakpur--(Extinct city).

Physical Description:

61 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 31 cm.

Place of Publication:

Stuttgart : Edition Axel Menges, [1995]

Summary:

On a curve of the boulder-strewn Maghai River in Rajasthan, in a tiny enclave formed by the forested Aravalli Hills, lies the sacred site of Ranakpur. In the 15th century, several temples were built there, and a bustling township overlooking the valley occupied the western slopes of the hills. Of the glory of those days little remains today. The town has disappeared without a trace -- the memory of its existence being occasionally conjured up by a vessel, or a gold coin discovered by wandering goatherds. One of the surviving fanes, set slightly apart from the rest, is the Sun Temple reputed to have been built by the illustrious Rana Kumbha, the Hindu ruler of the powerful Rajput kingdom of Mewar. Three of the other temples belong to the Jains. Of them all, the most impressive is the Dharna Vihara, built by Dharna Sah and his architect Depaka and dedicated to Yugadishvara, the first Tirthankara (enlightened being) of this aeon. It is also known as Trailokyadipaka Prasada -- the Temple of the Light of the Three Worlds.

The austere exterior of the massive building with its monotonous mouldings contains no hint of the contrast within, of the richly embellished interior with its vistas of columned corridors, soaring domes, spired shrines, and open courts. The varied and multiple parts resolve themselves into an interlocking symmetrical structure of covered and open spaces, illuminated by shifting cadences of light. The airy, aloof architectural form expresses the sublime detachment advocated by the Jain religion.

In the 17th century, while waging their iconoclastic war on the infidels, the Islamic forces desecrated and damaged the temples. Not long afterwards, the area was devastated bya series of famines, and the inhabitants of Ranakpur migrated to neighbouring areas. The Dharna Vihara lay crumbling and deserted until this century, when a concerted effort was made to repair and restore it to its former magnificence.

And once again, the majesty of the white marble and the intricacy of the sculptured ornamentation evoke the grandeur of the vision that created this unique monument of Indian art.

Saryu Doshi lives in Bombay and works as an art historian. She has made a particular study on the art of the Jains. Thomas Dix was responsible for the photographs in the first Opus volume on the Goetheanum in Dornach, and is also now the photographer who features most frequently in this series.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (page 17)

ISBN:

393069817X

OCLC:

34241044