Tag: Jainism- A Non Voilent Religion

Muktagir The origin of Muktagiri as a centre of pilgrimage goes back to a memorable occurrence in which the leading part is played by a saintly monk. This is something characteristic of many places featured in this book and confirms the traditional conviction held by Jainas that their saints of old lived up to the...

Ellora "Visitors to Ellora see the Jaina temples only after they have looked at Buddhist and Brahmanical ones, that is, when exhausted after their mile-long walk, and with their visual memories loaded with powerful images. They can then be hardly expected to have any interest left for the Jaina sculptures, and their indifference not seldom...

Mangi Tungi Sacred Mangi Tungi - a sight to be seen! - is located at the end of a side-track in a thinly populated area of scenic grandeur. Rama and Sita on their flight from Ayodhya are said to have sojourned for a while at the foot of the Mangi, the western pinnacle of the...

Gajpantha  Pilgrims on their way up to Gajpantha: a small group of caves and temples sanctified by Jaina saints who chose this lonely-now regrettably denuded - hill for dying a religious death. The hill is visible from the highway, but it needs a motor-rickshaw or a taxi to cover the about nine kilometres from Nasik....

Anjaneri A hidden Jainacave-temple (now a shrine of the local Hindus) near the village of Anjaneri. A two-roomed cave, small in size yet remark- able for its sculptures. Height of the images a little over one metre.  Meditating Jina at the entrance to Anjaneri village. In the direction the ox-cart is heading lie the extensive grounds of ruined...

Maharashtra After little-known Tamilnadu as far as holy Jaina places are con rashtra also revealed itself as another state good for the unexpected. Even our first destination, the village of Anjaneri, just some hours drive north of Bombay, yielded a surprising find. ned Anjaneri is a small village off a secondary road about twenty-four kilometres...

Jaina Culture The Jainas possess a distinct religion, a separate philosophy, a different ethical code, a set of peculiar beliefs, practices, customs and manners and a vast literature of their own. Though Jainas form a small minority at present, yet in the past they were not only numerous but also enjoyed royal patronage for a...

Valathy 187 (above), Natural cave near the wester outskirts of Valathy, a village with a 400-year-old temple and a Jaina congregation of about thirty families. Illustration 106 (above left) shows a close-up of the cave's undated sculpture. Time, it seems, was of little concern then-and still is when judged by the potter (ill 108) seen at...

Tirumalai Tirumalai. Bahubali visited by his two sisters. Eleventh century. A seated Mahavira flanked by two large lions grace this disused temple on top of the hill. Under the tree in the rear there are rock-cut footprints (padukas) commemorating the nirvana (death) of some  renowned ascetics. The temple-hill at Tirumalai (malai hill) is another ancient...

Melsittamur (left). General view of the towers of the 'new' (16th cent.) temple of Melsittamur as seen from the roof of a nearby build- ing. The two old templs (9th cent.), housing sev- eral impressive sculptures, lie a short way beyond the blackened tower. (far left below). Sculpture on a pillar facing from within the...