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Jainism is primarily an Indian religion
and it is doubtful whether it crossed the frontiers of India. The Jain religion
is contemporary to Buddhism and bears much resemblance to it. It was founded
around 500 B.C. by Mahavira, the 24th and last of the Jain prophets called as
Tirthankars or "finders of the path".Mahavira cannot be called the founder
of Jainism rather its reformer. The first Jain prophet was Rsabha who is mentioned
in the Vedas and hence Jainism can be considered to be of great antiquity. The
Jains number a few millions in India and are predominantly found in the west
and southwest.
They believe that the Universe is
infinite. In Jainism, God as such does not exist. A liberated soul, that of
a prophet is God. A voluntary death by penance is considered highly esteem.
They also believe in reincarnation and eventual spiritual salvation or Moksha.
One factor in the search for salvation is Ahimsa or reverence for all life and
the avoidance of injury to all living things. Due to this belief the Jains are
all vegetarians and some monks even cover their mouth with a piece of cloth
actually to avoid the risk of accidentally swallowing an insect. They also walk
in the streets with a tiny duster that clears their way of any tiny creatures
that they might accidentally hurt!
The Jains are divided into two sects,
the Shvetembara and the Digambara.The Digambaras are the more
austere sect and as a sign of their contempt for material possessions they wear
no clothes. Most of the Digambaras are monks and they confine their nudity within
the monasteries. The famous Shravanbelagola temple in Karnataka is a Digambara
temple.
A good Shvetambara Jain should vow
to avoid injury, falsehood and theft. He is also supposed to make a pilgrimage
to one of the sacred Tirthas, Mount Abu, Mount Samneta, and Mount Girnar near
Junagadh and Mount Shatrunjaya near Palitana. The last one is very famous where
a visit to the vast temple with more than 1000 Jain shrines and 800 mini temples
is said to be meritorious as visiting all other hills combined.
Jain
temples
SHRAVANABELAGOLA
TEMPLE |
Shravanbelgola, the Digambara's
temple near Mysore has a statue of the saint Gomateshvara carved in its
peak. Here the architecture, worship and everything take their cue from
Hinduism. Most of the Jains take their vows, go on pilgrimages and fast
on "Pavan" meaning holy days, the 8th and 14th days of the moon's waxing
and waning every month. They also accept Sallakhana, the fast to death
while meditating, as an honorable way of ending ones life. Since two of
the sacred hills are in Gujarat most of the Jains live there or in nearby
Bombay.
The Jains tend to be clever
and commercially successful and have a great influence anywhere they move.
They chiefly belong to the mercantile class spread mainly over central,
eastern and southern India. There are many Jains in Rajasthan, Gujarat
and Bombay. In general the Jains are self-effacing, neither giving money
ostentatiously to the community nor lavishing it themselves. Health and
education, such as hospitals, libraries and schools, are often their choice
of patronage. They have set up many trusts and charitable institutions
in India.
PALITANA
TEMPLE
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ains take their temple buildings
very seriously; constructing temples is one way to achieve good karma
and so Jain temples are found in huge concentrations in some places. Shatrunjaya,
a temple in Gujarat is a complex made of 863 temples. Most of the Jain
temples date back between 1000 and 1300 A.D. when the Solani Dynasty of
western India was patronizing the religion
Jain temples are similar to
the Hindu temples with the difference being in the number of cells built
to hold the images. Many Jain temples hide their spectacular interiors
behind non-descript walls. Most of the temples are aligned along an east-west
axis. Temples may be either rock-cut or freestanding. The hilltop complex
of Shatrunjaya, the Place of victory, in Gujarat is one of the most evocative
Jain memorials in India. The Dilwara temples of Mt. Abu in Rajasthan are
renowned as the country's finest Jain architecture. The Jain temple complex
at Ranakpur in Rajasthan is one of the largest. With an area of 100 meters
square, it has 29 halls supported by 1444 pillars. |
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