"…Let the reader discard his shoes, and prepare to enter with me the sacred fanes of Dailwara. This is a contraction of Dewulwarra, ‘the place or region of temples,’ a term aptly applied to the site of this numerous group, from which I select two of the most remarkable. The reader will be pleased to consider himself at the entrance of the shrine sacred to Vrishabdeva, the first of the Jains. Beyond controversy this is the most superb of all the temples of India, and there is not an edifice besides the Mahal that can approach to it. The pen is incompetent to describe the exuberant beauties of this proud monument of the Jains, raised by one of the richest of their votaries (by whose name, and not that of the pontiff enshrined within, it is still designated), and which continues to attract pilgrims from every region of India. Bimul Shah, whose work has immortalized him, was a merchant of Anhulwarra, at one time the Tyre of India, and the ancient stronghold of the Jain faith. It was, however, towards the close of her long career of renown, that these two edifices were erected and happily for these votaries of Jainism, who, to use the words of the bard, “exchanged their perishable wealth for an immortal name,” for hardly were the fabrics reared, when the metropolis of Western India was sacked, its merchants driven forth, and their riches transferred to the Northern Invader. Previous to their erection, the immediate spot was occupied by the orthodox divinities, Siva and Vishnu, whose ministers would not tolerate the approach of any of the sectarian enemies of their faith; but the Sahoos of Nehrwalla, giving this the preference over any other site on the surface of Aboo, determined to try the effect of gold on the sovereign, or, as they allegorically say, “Lacshmi herself entered into the scheme, to gain a victory for their faith.” The bribe was high, they offered to cover as much ground as they required for their purpose with silver coin, – a temptation too powerful for the Pramara to withstand, – and, despite the anathema of the priests of Bal-Siva and Vishnu, he took the lacs of the Jain merchants. The name of the prince is not mentioned, but the date of the temples shews him to be the same sacrilegious Dharaburz, who attempted to inundate the Khar of Sacti. The merchants were not ungrateful of Lacshmi, whom they enshrined in a niche on the right hand of the entrance."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Dilwara
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Tod
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
James Tod
48 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by James Tod →
Related Quotes
"“…To Iletmish we owe some of the finest Muslim works in India. The Arhai din ka-Jhopra began by Qutab al-Din in AD 11…"
"[Once in a while, ladies with courage and virtue, stood up against the royal advances like the wife of Prithviraj Sin…"
"Ujameda, by his wife, Nila, had five sons, who spread their branches on both sides of the Indus. Regarding three the …"
"In Tod’s description, the ‘Marusthali’, as it was then called, consists of ‘expansive belts of sand, elevated upon a …"
"The affinity that this word (Hakra) has botli to the Ghaggar, and Sankra,” would lead to the conclusion of either bei…"
"Thus, taking an average of the whole, we may consider fifty-five princes to be the number of descents from Budha to K…"
"To the drying up of the Hakra, or Gliaggar, many centuries ago, in conjunction with moral evils, is ascribed the exis…"
"Where can we look for sages like those whose systems of philosophy were prototypes of those of Greece: to whose works…"
"Those who expect from a people like the Hindus a species of composition of precisely the same character as the histor…"
"To these fifty-six reigns I should be willing to allow the average of twenty years, which would give 1120 from Rama t…"