There are many places in India which are of special
importance to Jains because of associations with holy persons of the past.
Some are the places where the enlightened ones left this world and
achieved final liberation, some are places where celebrated religious
events occurred, at others a famous temple (often many temples) or image
draws the pilgrims. Pilgrimage to such places has long been popular. It is
felt that there is great merit in visiting them: in earlier times (and
often even today) the hardship of the journey was a form of austerity
teaching endurance and control of the body. The religious atmosphere and
the knowledge that here one is at the very place trodden by the great
figures of earlier times and by countless Jain pilgrims inspire feelings
of awe and reverence.
The pilgrims who make their way to the sacred places
may be monks or nuns who travel, sometimes over long distances, on foot
(the likelihood of crushing small creatures beneath the wheels, or
otherwise harming them, means that monks and nuns must not travel by car
or other conveyance), or solitary lay individuals, or families or large
organized groups. For some the journey may mean real hardship and often
well-to-do people undertake the praiseworthy task of helping others to go
on pilgrimage. Sometimes a wealthy Jain will organize a major pilgrim
'caravan'. A pilgrimage led by a prominent businessman of Ahmedabad some
fifty years ago involved nearly 15,000 people with four hundred monks and
seven hundred nuns. Five hundred helpers, cooks and watchmen looked after
them as they traveled by slow stages, mostly walking but some riding on
horseback or in a hundred motor cars, to Girnar (where the twenty-second
Tirthankara achieved moksa) and to the great collection of temples at
Satrunjaya. Thirteen hundred bullock carts, as well as lorries,
transported tents, cooking equipment and the pilgrims' baggage. When they
camped at night the rows of tents, the bustle and lights, the women
performing religious dances and songs, gave the impression of a small
town. Nowadays, of course, some large groups of pilgrims travel by modern
transport (the discomfort may be less but the pious intention is the same
and it is still the practice for wealthy Jains to organize and finance
them) but large assemblies of pilgrims, a thousand or more at a time,
still make the sacred journey on foot, as do lone individuals as well.
Most of the great pilgrimage sites are distant from the
centers of population, almost always on the tops of hills or mountains,
and often in surroundings of natural beauty conducive to devotion and
meditation.
Jain temples throughout India are noted for their
cleanliness and sacred atmosphere. The worshipper enters in a state of
reverence with mind and spirit prepared, and with clothes and person
clean. Shoes are removed, outside impediment like sticks and umbrellas are
left behind. No worldly activities take place within the temple, no
sleeping or sitting in casual conversation. The architecture and carving
are often equal to any that India, a land of splendid sculpture and temple
architecture, can show. The focus is on the image of the Tirthankara,
represented seated or standing, in deep meditation with the eyes directed
to the tip of the nose, the expression solemn but tranquil. The image is
naked, or wearing at most a single cloth, indicating renunciation of
worldly things, but is often marked on the breast with a diamond-shaped
figure. The Svetambara frequently adorn the image with jewels but in a
Digambara shrine it will be left unadorned. A richly carved surround will
set off the simple figure, perhaps with elephants, other animal, bird or
human figures and celestial attendants. Each Tirthankara has a distinctive
sign, a bull for Rsabha, a lion for Mahavira and so on, which is depicted
on the pedestal. The twenty-third Tirthankara, Parsva, is shown with a
canopy of seven hooded snakes. In a place frequented by pilgrims simple
hostel accommodation will be provided free of charge, though it is
customary for worshippers to leave a gift of money for the temple upkeep,
according to their means.
Of the great number of places of Jain pilgrimage, one
which is of unequaled sanctity is Mount Parsvanatha, or SAMETSIKHARA, in
Bihar, for it is believed that here no fewer than twenty of the
twenty-four Tirthankara left their last earthly bodies and achieved moksa.
The mountain rises handsomely from forested lower slopes to its rugged
peak and the summit is covered with temples. As they exist today the
temples are all relatively modern, the finest one, on the south-east, with
its five fluted domes, contains an image in black marble of Parsva, the
twenty-third Tirthankara, dated 1765 on its base. Large numbers of
pilgrims come to this place, the most pious, after visiting every shrine,
conclude their pilgrimage by walking the thirty-mile circuit of the base
of the hill
From Sametsikhara the pilgrim may well go on to
PAVAPURI, also in Bihar. It is a place of great scenic beauty,
particularly when the lotus flowers are in bloom on the large lake. The
lake, so the story goes, was formed over many centuries by countless
pilgrims taking up a pinch of dust to mark their foreheads. For this is
holy ground, a temple stands at the place where Mahavira is reputed to
have achieved moksa, and another at the site where his body was cremated.
The latter is on an island in the lake, .connected by a causeway with the
shore, and the gleaming structure, reflected in the lotus-strewn waters,
is a splendid sight. Both temples have been considerably renovated over
the years. The festival of Diwali, the annual remembrance of Mahavira's
nirvana, is, of course, celebrated here with great ceremony.
If the ancient Magadha state, modern Bihar, was the
cradle of Jainism, the community is nowadays strongest in western India.
Rajasthan and Gujarat are particularly rich in Jain temples and places of
pilgrimage. Seven hundred years ago it is recorded that there were over
three hundred temples in western India, two hundred of them in Gujarat.
In Rajasthan, JESALMIR has long attracted scholars to
its famous library of Jain manuscripts and many thousands of religious
books. Not only scholars, but also many other Jains make the pilgrimage to
the splendid intricately carved temples of yellow stone. RANAKPUR is also
in Rajasthan. The magnificent temple, or temple complex, dates from the
fifteenth century. It covers 40,000 square feet on a lofty base,
surrounded, as is common with Jain temples, by a high wall. Following a
not-uncommon Jain style, the main sanctuary has four six-foot white marble
statues of Rsabha, the first Tirthankara, facing the four directions, so
the complex plan of the temple provides four approaches. Innumerable
pillars, said to be 1444, richly carved and all different, provide
unending vistas through the twenty-nine halls, interrupted by open courts.
In the thirteenth century A.D. the Jain king of Gujarat, Kumarapala,
founded a temple at TARANGA. After his successor reacted against Jainism
the temple came to be largely destroyed but it was renovated much later in
the reign of the Mogul emperor Akbar in the sixteenth century. It is
picturesquely situated on the top of a hill with a difficult approach
testing the endurance of pilgrims.
Undoubtedly the masterpieces of Jain architecture, and
almost unrivaled in India for beauty and delicacy of carving, are the
magnificent DELWARA temples on MOUNTABU in Rajasthan. The carving of the
white marble is so delicate that it is almost translucent: the masons
scraped away the marble rather than chiseled it and are said to have been
paid according to the weight of marble dust removed. The transport alone
of the blocks of stone from far away must have been very laborious and
expensive. There are two major temple complexes. One was built around 1030
A.D. by Vimala Shah, a wealthy merchant, and dedicated to the first
Tirthankara: it was restored in 1322. The forty-eight pillars of the main
hall are probably unequaled anywhere for their decoration; the dome of
eleven rings, alternate ones of which are decorated with human and animal
figures, is impressive. The later temple, dedicated to the Tirthankara
Neminatha, is the larger, 155 feet long. It was founded around 1230 by
Tejapala, who with his brother Vastupala, prime minister to the regent of
Gujarat, was responsible for more than fifty religious edifices, including
foundations at Satrunjaya and Girnar. Each temple complex stands in a
rectangular walled area decorated with statues in niches around the
circumference. Not only the temples but also the splendid panoramic view
from 4000 feet above sea level make this site a remarkable showpiece as
well as a place of deep religious significance.
Two places of pilgrimage in Gujarat, GIRNAR and
SATRUNJAYA, are so rich in temples and shrines that they have been
described as temple cities. GIRNAR is celebrated as the place where the
Tirthankara Neminatha achieved moksa. One famous temple at the top of
Mount Girnar is over a thousand years old: an inscription is to be found
there recording that it was repaired in 1278 A.D. The temple is in a
rectangular courtyard surrounded by some seventy Tirthankara images. This
is the largest temple but there are many others, including one founded by
Vastupala in 1231 A.D. and dedicated to the nineteenth Tirthankara,
Mallinatha.
