Framing the Jina

Narratives of Icons and Idols in Jain History

John Cort (Professor of Religion, Professor of Religion, Dension University)

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English

Oxford University Press Inc
08 April 2010

Jainism

"John Cort explores the narratives by which the Jains have explained the presence of icons of Jinas (their enlightened and liberated teachers) that are worshiped and venerated in the hundreds of thousands of Jain temples throughout India. Most of these narratives portray icons favorably, and so justify their existence; but there are also narratives originating among iconoclastic Jain communities that see the existence of temple icons as a sign of decay and corruption. The veneration of Jina icons is one of the most widespread of all Jain ritual practices. Nearly every Jain community in India has one or more elaborate temples, and as the Jains become a global community there are now dozens of temples in North America, Europe, Africa, and East Asia. The cult of temples and icons goes back at least two thousand years, and indeed the largest of the four main subdivisions of the Jains are called Murtipujakas, or ""Icon Worshipers."" A careful reading of narratives ranging over the past 15 centuries, says Cort, reveals a level of anxiety and defensiveness concerning icons, although overt criticism of the icons only became explicit in the last 500 years. He provides detailed studies of the most important pro- and anti-icon narratives. Some are in the form of histories of the origins and spread of icons. Others take the form of cosmological descriptions, depicting a vast universe filled with eternal Jain icons. Finally, Cort looks at more psychological explanations of the presence of icons, in which icons are defended as necessary spiritual corollaries to the very fact of human embodiedness."

By: John Cort (Professor of Religion Professor of Religion Dension University)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 243mm, Width: 163mm, Spine: 28mm
Weight: 718g
ISBN: 9780195385021
ISBN 10: 0195385020
Pages: 416
Publication Date: 08 April 2010
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Out of Stock Indefinitely

"Note on Language, Transliteration and Names Illustrations Introduction: Lives, Frames, Terms Chapter 1: The Archaeology of Jina Images Chapter 2: Icons and Cosmology: A Cosmos Filled with Eternal Icons and Temples Chapter 3: The Spread of Icons in Our World Chapter 4: The Lifetime ""Living Lord"" Icon of Mahavira: Anxiety about the Authenticity of Icons Chapter 5: Idols and a History of Corruption Chapter 6: The Inevitability of Tangible Form: A Natural Theology of Icons Conclusion: Framing the Jina Appendix: Titles of Jain Texts Glossary Bibliography Index"

Associate Professor of Religion, Denison University

Reviews for Framing the Jina: Narratives of Icons and Idols in Jain History

This book is an essential for scholars who are interested in image worship and the ways in which religious communities defend or reject such practices. * Lisa N. Owen, The Journal of Asian Studies. *