Month: April 2023

Bihar Bihar - a name derived from vihara meaning temple - is the cradle of two great - religions: Buddhism and Jainism, the elder of the two. Its capital Patna, in olden times Pataliputra, was the political centre of India for nearly a millennium, from about 400 BC to 500 AD. Ashoka, the greatest king...

Kutch Circular tour of Jaina sites in the Gujarat District of Kutch. "The off-the-beaten track semi-island of Kutch is a region where age-old customs have only recently been touched by modern civilization. The gates of the walled city of Bhuj - now connected by rail, road and air with the mainland used to be locked...

Girnar Plan of the Neminatha Temple, built in c. 1128. The surrounding devakulikas were added later. The walled enclosure measures 139 metres in length by 58 metres in width. The Neminatha image in the sanctum is of polished black basalt. A special feature of this temple is a panel of 108 well-carved footprints.  Plan of...

Mount Shatrunjaya O lord of peaks Shatrunjaya! How can en wise people describe in brief your qualities Due to the influence of this tirtha, there is causpicious mental modifica tion of men who come on pilgrimage 4 pious man eliminates sin by placing on his limbs dust from the carts and the four of the...

Shankeshvara Parshvanatha Shankesvara Temple. Part view, Shankeshvara (see map ill. 270) is a historic Jaina site comprising an old temple within a fortified enclosure, some new to very new temples, about a dozen dharmashalas, a bus stand, and one long street lined with shops. Usually called Parshvanath Shankeshvar, it is the most popular place of...

Patan The study and the translation of Jaina scriptures by western scholars has a history of almost two hundred years. Understandably, this long preoccupation with written words led to a dry and unexciting, even grim picture of Jainism; a portrait that is still perpetuated by editors of books on the world's religions as well as...

Ahmedabad Though founded by a Muslim, Sultan Ahmad Shah, in 1411, Ahmedabad has more Jaina temples than mosques within its historic city wall. Astonishingly, a guide published by the Archaeological Survey of India (2nd ed. 1992), entitled AHMADABAD, does not mention a single Jaina monument. A Parshvanatha temple which was built by Shantidas Jhaveri, a...

Gujarat Three of Gujarat's sacred Jaina sites - Kumbharia, Idar and Taranga - have already been featured in the 'Grand Tour' chapter (p. 154). Of the many other places only a few can be mentioned here. Gujarat - Gandhi - Jainism: three names that form a kind of "trinity" in the minds of many Indians...

Chittorgarh  Nothing will be said here about the many battles and the bloodshed associated with Chittorgarh Fort. In the end, after more than a thousand years, this abruptly rising plateau remotely shaped like a whale when seen from the air, has found peace. Thus, a photograph emanating today's peaceful atmosphere of the Fort has been...

Rishabhdeo Mandir Two views of Rishabhdeo Mandir, Situated sixty-five kilometres from Udaipur on the road to Ahmedabad, it is one of the most popular Jaina temples in Rajasthan. Since it is claimed as a place of worship not only by Jainas (predominately Shvetambara) but also by Hindus and especially by Bhils, who visit the temple...