Image credits

A lotus diagram with eight petals. The centre holds the first line of the Navkar Mantra, the four cardinal petals hold the remaining four lines, and the four diagonal petals hold salutations to right faith, right knowledge, right conduct and right austerity.

Vijay K. Jain, Pañca-Parameṣṭhi, CC0 1.0. Converted to WebP.

A seventeenth century Prakrit manuscript folio. On the right, five seated figures in white, red, gold, dark green and black sit in a row above a crescent, with rows of shrine spires above them; on the left, Prakrit verse and a ruled table.

British Library, Folio from the Saṁgrahaṇīratna by Śrīcandra, Or 2116C, Public domain. Converted to WebP.

A bronze altarpiece from about 1500. One large seated Jina occupies the centre under a parasol, and around and above him rise more than a hundred small identical seated figures in tiers.

Wmpearl, Altarpiece with multiple Jinas, c. 1500, Norton Simon Museum, CC0 1.0. Resized and converted to WebP.

The cover of an edition of Acharya Umaswami's Tattvarth Sutra. Below the title stands the Jain emblem: the outline of the occupied universe, with the crescent of the siddhashila and the three dots of the ratnatraya at the top, a swastika in the upper half, and the ahimsa hand with its wheel below. The motto parasparopagraho jivanam runs along the foot.

Vijay K. Jain, Tattvarthsutra, CC0 1.0. Converted to WebP.

A printed diagram from 1933 titled The Jaina Doctrine of Ahimsa, branching himsa downward into categories: injuring one-sensed beings or higher ones, deliberately or accidentally, and then unavoidable kinds such as self-defence and the treatment of disease against wanton kinds such as sport, sacrifice and killing for food.

Champat Rai Jain, The Jaina Doctrine of Ahimsa, 1933, Public domain. Converted to WebP.

A pen drawing of seven blind men around an elephant, each touching a different part of it. Two teachers look on from roundels in the upper corners, with a Sanskrit line above and below naming them as the anekantavadi and the men as the seven one-sided blind.

romana klee from usa, Medieval Jain temple Anekantavada doctrine artwork, CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized and converted to WebP.

A seventeenth century painting of the loka as a standing human figure with hands at the waist. The upper body holds the heavens, a disc at the waist marks the middle world, and the flared lower half is the hells, all rendered in red, yellow and blue chequerwork.

British Library, 14 Rajaloka or Triloka, 17th century, Public domain. Converted to WebP.

A Jain cosmological painting of Jambudvipa, laid out as concentric rings and rectangular regions around Mount Meru at the centre.

Anonymous, Jain Cosmological Map of the Universe, Jambudvipa, Public domain. Resized and converted to WebP.

A crowded marble temple hall during Das Lakshan. Men, women and children in saffron puja clothes sit along low tables set with thalis of offerings and printed booklets, with white shrines ranged along the wall behind them.

Aayush18, Das Lakshana (Paryusana) celebrations, New York City Jain temple, CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized and converted to WebP.

A painted manuscript leaf of about 1400 on a deep red ground. Queen Trishala reclines on a low couch with the newborn Mahavir beside her, attendants seated around her, and shrine spires with peacocks along the upper border.

Anonymous, The Birth of Mahavira, from a Kalpa Sutra, c. 1375–1400, Public domain. Resized and converted to WebP.

A white marble temple at Pawapuri standing in the middle of a lotus pond, reached by a long causeway.

Photo Dharma from Penang, Malaysia, Pawapuri, temple marking Mahavira's passing, CC BY 2.0. Resized and converted to WebP.

A diagram grading living beings by the number of senses they possess, from one-sensed plants and micro-organisms up to five-sensed animals and humans, used to explain which foods cause least harm.

Effulgence108, Jain Vegetarianism Illustration, CC0 1.0. Converted to WebP.

A seated stone image of Bhagwan Adinath at Bilhari, unadorned, with the eight auspicious symbols carved into the slab behind it and the eight mangal dravya set out in metal on the platform in front.

Malaiya, Bilahari Adinath image with Ashtamangala, CC BY-SA 3.0. Converted to WebP.

A woman seated on a marble floor reads from a small book. On a low red stool in front of her, swastikas and other marks have been laid out in loose rice grains, with a lemon, two small offerings and a printed booklet beside them.

cerulean5000 from NYC, USA, A Jain ritual offerings and puja recital at a temple, CC BY 2.0. Resized and converted to WebP.

A long narrow manuscript cover from western India in red and gold. A gilded panel runs its length carrying a row of auspicious symbols in relief, among them two swastikas, a nandyavarta, an eight-pointed star, a vessel and a pair of fish-like forms.

A Jain Manuscript Cover, western India, 16th century, LACMA M.72.53.22, Public domain. Resized and converted to WebP.

The Hathigumpha on the Udayagiri hills near Bhubaneswar: a cave cut into a large sandstone outcrop, with a pillared verandah at the front and the natural rock overhang rising above it, on which the Kharavela inscription is carved.

LRBurdak at English Wikipedia, Hathigumpha, Udayagiri Hills, Bhubaneswar, CC BY-SA 3.0. Converted to WebP.

A carved sandstone votive tablet from Mathura, roughly square, with a small unclothed seated Jina at its centre surrounded by concentric bands of ornament and an inscription along the lower edge.

Nomu420, Sihanamdika ayagapata, Jain votive plate, Kankali Tila, Mathura, 25–50 CE, CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized and converted to WebP.

A nineteenth century photograph of the left wing of the Indra Sabha, the Jain cave temple numbered thirty-two at Ellora, showing carved pillars and figures cut into the rock face.

J. Johnston, Left wing of the Indra Sabha Jain Cave Temple, Cave XXXII, Ellora, Public domain. Converted to WebP.

A Jaipur miniature painting of about 1850 laid out as a grid of twenty-four panels. Each holds a Tirthankar seated in the same posture, named in Devanagari above and painted in his traditional body colour, gold, red, green, white, blue or black.

Unknown author, Jain miniature painting of the 24 Tirthankaras, Jaipur, c. 1850, Public domain. Converted to WebP.

A painting of about 1800 showing the samavasaran from above: concentric circular walls and stairways, with the Tirthankar at the centre and ranks of humans, animals and celestial beings arranged in the surrounding rings.

Unknown author, Samavasarana painting, Rajasthan, c. 1800, Public domain. Resized and converted to WebP.

Rock cut Tirthankar images at the Mangi-Tungi caves in Maharashtra, seated and standing, carved without ornament or applied eyes in the Digambar manner.

Anandbora72, Jain Tirthankar, Mangi-Tungi caves, CC BY-SA 4.0. Converted to WebP.

A Digambar muni seated on the ground at the entrance to Jain cave 33 at Ellora, unclothed, one hand raised in blessing and his picchi of peacock feathers resting beside him.

Arian Zwegers from Brussels, Belgium, Ellora, cave 33, Digambar Jain guru, CC BY 2.0. Resized and converted to WebP.

Two picchis, soft whisks of dark peacock feathers, laid on a low stand beside two water pots and two open books printed in Devanagari and Kannada.

M, Pichi kamandal shastra, CC BY-SA 4.0. Converted to WebP.

The Indra Sabha at Ellora, the Jain cave temple numbered thirty-two, with its carved courtyard shrine standing free of the rock face behind it.

Memocap, The Indra Sabha, Cave 32 at Ellora, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and converted to WebP.

Two rock pinnacles rising from a broad plateau in the Western Ghats, joined by a saddle of land between them.

Deepan Choudhary, Mangi Tungi twin pinnacle, CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized and converted to WebP.

A view over the town of Shravanabelagola from high on one of its granite hills, with the tank below and the second hill rising beyond.

Ananth H V, Shravanabelagola Hillview, CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized and converted to WebP.

The shikhar of the Yogeshwari temple seen from below, its tiers brightly painted and each niche holding a figure.

Mahajandeepakv, Ambajogai Yogeshwari Temple, CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized and converted to WebP.

The Kholeshwar temple at Ambajogai.

Namdeo S Gundale, Kholeshwar temple, Ambajogai, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and converted to WebP.

The ruined Barakhambi or Sakleshwar temple at Ambajogai.

Munnasomani, Barakhambi temple, Ambajogai, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and converted to WebP.

A rock cut cave complex on flat ground, its pillared halls hollowed out of the bedrock, with large weathered carved elephants standing at the entrance and a cut rock tank in the foreground.

Namdeo S Gundale, Bhucharnath cave temple, Ambajogai, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and converted to WebP.