• Dr. R. ANBAZHAGAN

Abstract Although India civilization is very ancient, its early history is still obscure, but we know that at least four thousand years ago and more, an advanced civilization was present in the northern valley of the Indus. Excavations of two cities, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, have revealed to us some details, tantalizingly incomplete, through the material remains of the Indus Valley civilization, including large public buildings, probably intended for religious purposes, however, this culture came to an abrupt end around 1,500 BCE. It was to be many centuries later, around 250 BCE, that the Emperor Asoka made Buddhism the state religion for most of the Indian sub-continent, and the next significant construction of religious buildings was undertaken. Asoka caused to be erected in many places tall stone pillars, some as high as fifty feet, crowned by a Buddhist symbol: the triple lions and the wheel of the law. These symbols from the pillar at Sarnath have been taken as the state emblems of modern India. The earliest Indian temples that survive today were built no earlier than 400 BC, although some images of the jinas are claimed to date from the 3rd century BC. Temples are usually classified, on the basis of their architectural style, into two main groups. In the south the so-called ‘Dravidian’ style developed on different lines from the ‘nagara’ or ‘Indo-Aryan’ tradition of the north. A third style is also identified, described as the ‘intermediate’ style, or the ‘Calukya’ style, from the ruling dynasty, which flourished in the south from the 11th century AD.

Dravidian, Indo-Aryan, Architecture highly stylized, Spiritual, Tirthankara, Inscription, Enlightenment, Liberation.

"JAINA PILGRIMAGE ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 2, page no.e73-e79, February-2024, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2402410.pdf

"JAINA PILGRIMAGE ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 2, page no. ppe73-e79, February-2024, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2402410.pdf