self-torture which they theoretically commend. Mahavira is said to have
taught that place, time and occasion should be taken into consideration
and his successors adapted their precepts to the age in which they
lived. Such monks as I have met[285] maintained that extreme forms of
_tapas_ were good for the nerves of ancient saints but not for the
weaker natures of to-day. But in avoiding rigorous severity, they have
not fallen into sloth or luxury.

The beauty of Jainism finds its best expression in architecture. This
reached its zenith both in style and quantity during the eleventh and
twelfth centuries which accords with what we know of the growth of the
sect. After this period the Mohammedan invasions were unfavourable to
all forms of Hindu architecture. But the taste for building remained and
somewhat later pious Jains again began to construct large edifices which
are generally less degenerate than modern Hindu temples, though they
often show traces of Mohammedan influence. Hathi Singh's temple at
Ahmadabad completed in 1848 is a fine example of this modern style.

There is a considerable difference between Jain and Buddhist
architecture both in intention and effect. Jain monks did not live
together in large communities and there was no worship of relics. Hence
the vihara and the stupa--the two principal types of Buddhist
buildings--are both absent. Yet there is some resemblance between Jain
temples (for instance those at Palitana) and the larger Burmese
sanctuaries, such as the Shwe Dagon Pagoda. It is partly due to the same
conviction, namely that the most meritorious work which a layman can
perform is to multiply shrines and images. In both localities the
general plan is similar. On the top of a hill or mound is a central
building round which are grouped a multitude of other shrines. The
repetition of chapels and images is very remarkable: in Burma they all
represent Gotama, in Jain temples the figures of Tirthankaras are
nominally different personalities but so alike in presentment that the
laity rarely know them apart. In both styles of art white and jewelled
images are common as well as groups of four sitting figures set back to
back and facing the four quarters[286]: in both we meet with veritable
cities of temples, on the hill tops of Gujarat and in the plain of Pagan
on the banks of the Irawaddy. As some features of Burmese art are
undoubtedly borrowed from India[287], the above characteristics may be
due