Jain Sanctuaries
2nd cent BC - 16th cent AD

GE-Map Jain India

Bubaneshvar
Udaygiri Caves, Jain
2nd cent BC- 4th cent AD

The Udayagiri Hill.
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A cave on top of Udaygiri Hill.
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Vishnu Varaha, Kushan, 2nd cent AD, Cave 5, Udaygiri
Photo shunya.net

This large 4m-high relief sculpture is one of the icons of Indian art. It depicts Varaha, the boar incarnation of Vishnu, rescuing the Earth Goddess (Bhu Devi) from the engulfing Ocean. Varaha lifts Bhu Devi on his massive shoulder. Below him on the right a submissive naga king under a cobra - behind the naga King Chandragupta(?) in adoration.

Heliodorus pillar, (Khamba Baba)
Photo shunya.net

Close to the ruins stands the remarkable Heliodorus pillar, (Khamba Baba)., 170 BC.The column bears an inscription announcing that it was a Garuda Pillar, erected in honour of Vasudeva by Heliodorous, a resident of Taxila, who had been sent to the court of Bhagabhadra as an envoy of the Gandhara-Greek monarch Antialkidas.
This inscription is a valuable historical record, revealing both the relations that existed between this region and the Greek kingdoms of Gandhara, and the fact that th Greek ambassador had become a Hindu. The inclusion of the name of Antialkidas dates the pillar to 170 BC

Bubaneshvar
Caves on Khandagiri Hill, Jain
100 BC-100 AD

Nine early cave temples located on Khandagiri Hill (2d century BC-1st century AD). The Khandagiri Caves are the some of the oldest Jain sites. They were cut during the reign of King Kharavela. Khandagiri, the older site, comprises 15 caves. Udaygiri, meaning Sunrise Hill, across the road consists of 18 caves.

Caves on Khandagiri Hill. 100 BC-100 AD

A single-faced lingam. Photos shunya.net.

Ahichatra Jain Cave
Gupta, 5th cent AD

This new archeological site has yielded two exceptionally lovely Gupta sculptures of the river goddesses Ganga and Jamuna (now in the New Delhi Museum). It is unclear why the site is considered Jain in the literature. Photos from sunya.net

Osiyan
783 -12th cent AD
Bramanic and Jain

Rajesthan's largest group of early Hindu and Jain temples lies strung out along the road at Osiyan, which from this point runs south 64 km to Jodhpur. The temples were mostly built in the Pratihara period, 8th - 9th century, except for Mahavira temple (Jain, mostly 11th century) and Sachiya Mata temple (Hindu, 11th - 12th century).

Ceiling of the Mahavira Temple (11th cent) a Jain tirtha.

The Osiyan Jain temples date from the 10th - 11th century. They have been kept in worship, and continually restored, down to the present day.

The Mahavira Temple (11th cent)
Photos from Wikipedia

Girnar-Junagadh
Jain Temple City
8th -12th cent AD

Girnar
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Junagadh, then called Girnar, was the capital of Gujarat under the Mauryas from the 4th century BC until the reign of Emperor Ashoka who embraced Buddhism. After his death (c 226 BC), it passed into the successive control of the Kshatrapas, Guptas and finally the Chudasanas. Hindu dominance lasted till the middle ages, when Muslim invaders established their supremacy. It remained under Muslim rule till India's independence.

Shravana Belagola
Bahubali Jain Statue
981 AD

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This mnumental stone statue (sanscrit: Gommateshvara) on the top of a hillock in Belagola is a revered hero in the Jain legends. His story is an example of the inner strength of the entire culture of India. He won everything from his brother and could have become an emperor, but he returned everything to the brother. Bahubali is considered to be the ideal man who conquers selfishness, jealousy, pride and anger. (Wikipedia)

Ranakpur
Chaumukha Temple
1439 AD

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This 15th century Jain temple at Ranakpur, dedicated to Adinath, represents a culmination of Jain temple building in western India. It is dedicated to Adinath and features a complex floor plan with multistoried porches and balconies. The temple has a strong directional orientation, with entrances at the four compass points.

The interior is elaborately carved in white marble and decorated throughout with Jain saviors, plant and floral motifs, and other figures.
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Satrunjaya
Jain temple city near Palitana
11th - 19th cent

Some of the 863 temples of Satrunjaya were built in the 11th century. Construction activity, however, spanned 900 years. As successive worshippers of the non-violent Jain community designed their own temples, they cleared the crest of the hill, levelled it into terraces, walled and fortified most of them.

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Because of its sanctity, every devout Jain aspires to climb to the top of the mountain at least once in his lifetime. The walk up the stone stairway hewn into the mountain face takes about an hour and a half. Food must neither be eaten nor carried on the way. The descent must begin before it is evening, for no soul can remain atop the sacred mountain during the night. The Gods are to be left alone overnight.

Gwalior
Jain Tirthankaras below Gwalior Fort
1398 - 1536

A Tirthankar or Jina is a human being who achieves enlightenment through asceticism and who then becomes a role-model teacher for those seeking spiritual guidance. A Tirthankar is a special sort of arhat, a person who has totally conquered base sensibilities such as anger, pride, deceit, or desire.
Jainism posits that time has no beginning or end. It moves like the wheel of a cart. There have been an infinite number of time cycles before our present era and there will be an infinite number of time cycles after this age. As of 2010, we are exactly 2,537 years into the fifth era of the present half cycle.The 24th and last Tirthankar was Mahavira (599-527 BC), whose existence is a historically accepted fact.

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The 24 Gwalior Tirthankaras look "ancient", but were carved from the rock by Jain monks only in the 15th century. They escaped defacement by Babur's Moslem troops during the conquest of the city in 1527.

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The 20-m high statue of Adinath, the first Jina.
For reference see Wikipedia