Idolatry Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Jainism=== [[File:Gommateshwara, Shravanabelagola.jpg|thumb|[[Gomateshwara statue|Gomateshwara Bahubali statue]] in [[Jainism]]]] Devotional idolatry has been a prevalent ancient practice in various Jaina sects, wherein learned [[Tirthankara]] (''Jina'') and human ''gurus'' have been venerated with offerings, songs and [[Aarti|ΔratΔ«]] prayers.<ref name=johncort>John Cort, Jains in the World : Religious Values and Ideology in India, Oxford University Press, ISBN, pages 64β68, 86β90, 100β112</ref> Like other major Indian religions, Jainism has premised its spiritual practices on the belief that "all knowledge is inevitably mediated by images" and human beings discover, learn and know what is to be known through "names, images and representations". Thus, idolatry has been a part of the major sects of Jainism such as Digambara and Shvetambara.<ref name="Cort2010p3"/> The earliest archaeological evidence of the idols and images in Jainism is from [[Mathura]], and has been dated to be from the first half of the 1st millennium AD.<ref>{{cite book|author=Paul Dundas|author-link=Paul Dundas|title=The Jains, 2nd Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jt6-YXE2aUwC|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-26606-2|pages=39β40, 48β53}}</ref> The creation of idols, their consecration, the inclusion of Jaina layperson in idols and temples of Jainism by the Jaina monks has been a historic practice.<ref name="Cort2010p3">{{cite book|author=John Cort|title=Framing the Jina: Narratives of Icons and Idols in Jain History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0IF2CAAAQBAJ |year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-045257-5|pages=3, 8β12, 45β46, 219β228, 234β236 }}</ref> However, during the iconoclastic era of Islamic rule, between the 15th and 17th century, a Lonka sect of Jainism emerged that continued pursuing their traditional spirituality but without the Jaina arts, images and idols.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Suresh K. Sharma|author2=Usha Sharma|title=Cultural and Religious Heritage of India: Jainism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VwsbJgJX84cC&pg=PA53 |year=2004|publisher=Mittal|isbn=978-81-7099-957-7|pages=53β54}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page