Consecration in Jain Temples

Kinjal Jain Research Associate

Dr Uday Dokras DEAN
The Indo Nordic Author’s Collective

Th

e Kumbabhishekam of Shri Mathru Pithru Smrutishri Sheetalnath Tirthankar Jain Temple

Aesthetic Pleasure in the Worship of the Jina and understanding Performance in Jain Devotional
Culture underlines Performance which has long been recognized to be a meaningful component in the
worship of the Jina. The phenomenon of ritual re-enactment of the Jina’s biography is a practice that
remains significant to temple worship today. The performance of the enlightened soul’s biography was
familiar to Jains already in the early centuries of the common era and was not confined to the five
auspicious events (kalyan. akas). In a Svetamabara canonical text called the Rayapaseniyasutta, this re-
enactment is part of a greater, highly pleasurable spectacle that evokes a variety of aesthetic emotions,
including erotic emotion, in the audience of monks.

The dichotomies that arise between aesthetic pleasure and ritual efficacy and between drama and
meritorious conduct and show that aesthetic pleasure, which lies at the heart of Jina worship, defines its
meritorious value in the eyes of the devotees. The more splendid and aesthetically pleasing one’s
expression of devotion, the more efficacious it is believed to be. The significance of the aesthetic element
in devotional performance for laypeople stems from their temporary transformation into gods and
goddesses. Celestial beings, as the paradigmatic enjoyers (bhoktr. ) of sensual pleasures, spend their life-
spans relishing joy and rapture. As such, the pleasurable experiences of laypeople are essential for the
veracity of their ritual transformation.

[Aesthetic Pleasure in the Worship of the Jina: Understanding Performance in Jain Devotional Culture
Aleksandra Restifo Balliol College, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3BJ, UK]

On 30th January 2012 in CHENNAI over 10,000 followers of the Jain religion from across
the country, on Sunday congregated at the newly built Shri Matru Pitru Smruti Shri
Sheetalnath Tirthankar Jinalaya to witness the consecration ceremony. The
ceremony involved the opening of the Kalas on the temple tower and the pratishta of the
idols of the Tirthankaras, the holy men of the religion.

Claimed to be the first jinalaya in Tamil Nadu to have the idols of all 24 Tirthankaras, the
temple near the Mint clock tower on Basin Bridge Road, occupies an area of 8,000 square
feet. It has been built by the family of Sankarji Prithviraj Kawad.

According to those associated with the temple, the architecture of the shrine was of the
Rajasthani style, with white marbles that adorn the temple walls and floors being sourced
from important centres across the country. While the shrine has the idols of all the 24
Tirthankaras, the main deity would be Bhagwan Sheetalnath, the tenth among the list of 24 of
whom Mahavira was the last.

The Central dome of the structure, built with intricately carved white marbles carrying the 14
sacred symbols, was 83 foot in height, claimed the organisers.

To undertake this ceremony, the Digambaras invited a ritual specialist (pratiṣṭhācārya) from
India to perform the pañcakalyāṇaka-pratiṣṭhā in which the icons to be consecrated are made to
reenact the five (pañca) auspicious events (kalyāṇaka) in the life of the Jina: conception
(garbha/cyavana), birth (janma), renunciation (dīkṣā/tapas), enlightenment/omniscience
(kevalajñāna), and death/liberation (mokṣa). Today, the pañcakalyāṇaka-pūjā is common to the
pratiṣṭhā ceremonies of Śvetāmbaras and Digambaras, but, as we have seen, this Kānjī Svāmī
version of the ceremony differs from other Jain varieties in that the main officiant of this pūjā is
not a monk, but a layperson. There is, however, one component of the Kānjī Svāmī pratiṣṭhā
ceremony in which these lay ritual specialists are required to imitate Digambara monks by
removing their clothes. This rite occurs during the reenactment of the fourth kalyāṇaka,
enlightenment (kevalajñāna). At this time, when the key moment of the enlivening ceremony, the
eye-opening, occurs, a sheet is held around the mūrti that is to be consecrated, and behind the
sheet, the pratiṣṭhācārya removes his clothes before whispering a potent invocation, the
sūrimantra, into the ear of the mūrti. Within Jain temple ritual culture, this rite is absolutely
exceptional. I know of no other ceremony in which a Jain layperson must remove all his clothes,
and it highlights a tension in the Kānjī Svāmī tradition between respecting the ideal of full
mendicancy and maintaining the belief that renunciation is not required for liberation. Indeed,
these rites draw attention to questions that have been at the heart of Jainism since its formation:
Who is a mendicant? Who is a layperson? And what actions define these roles?5

The consecration ceremony involved the ritual of Anjanshalaka, where the eyes of the
idols were decorated with a collyrium  made of various substances that
are considered auspicious in the Jain community. The organisers informed that the
idols were made of semi-precious stones such as rose quartz, yellow morgue and black
rainbow.

While the Kumbabishekam was performed on Sunday, the programmes leading to the
ceremony were inaugurated on January 22 by Speaker D Jayakumar. Apart from devotional
singing every evening, a play depicting the life of Sheetalnath was staged on all days.
However, the highlight of the nine-day ceremony was the procession taken out on Saturday
from Mint Street to the temple in which more than 15,000 jains participated. The
construction of the temple would take another eight months to be completed.

For eight days in December of 2008, hundreds of Jains from both imageworshiping sects of
Jainism, Digambara and Śvetāmbara, had gathered at the Jain Center of Greater Phoenix in
Arizona, U.S.A., to celebrate the installation of twenty-six Jain temple images (mūrti, bimba,
pratimā, etc.).2 During these eight days of celebration, both Digambara and Śvetāmbara icons
were installed (pratiṣṭhita) in the temple at the Center, but only the Digambara mūrtis were
consecrated, or instilled with the energy of the Jina.3 Because the Śvetāmbara practitioners at the
Center believe that only a fully initiated monk has the power to transform a temple image into
the presence of the Jina, they had ordered the consecration of their mūrtis—the eye-opening
ceremony (añjanaśalākā)—to be performed by a monk in Mumbai before the icons were flown to
the United States. Monks have taken a vow to only travel by foot, so they could not attend the
ceremony themselves. Many of the Digambaras at the Center, however, are followers of a new
branch of Jainism founded in the second half of the twentieth century, the Kānjī Svāmī Panth,
which has rejected the need for mendicancy, advocating for a lay path to liberation.4 Because
Kānjī Panthīs do not require a mendicant to consecrate images, they could witness for
themselves the full image consecration ceremony.

Kumbhabhishekham, also known as Samprokshanam is a Hindu temple ritual that is believed

to homogenize, synergize and unite the mystic powers of the deity. It is part of the consecration
ceremony of Hindu temples. Kumbha means the Head and denotes the Shikhara or Crown of the
Temple (usually in the gopuram) and abhisekham or prokshanam is ritual bathing.
Kumbhabhishekham is widely celebrated as a festival in South India.
On the appointed day and at an auspicious time, the Kumbha is bathed with the charged and
sanctified holy waters in the sacrificial pot and, by a mystic process, these pranic powers trickle
down a silver wire and enter the deity installed inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. The
deity, which was until then only a granite sculptured stone image, is believed to transform into a
vibrant and vivid living representation of the deva with innate beatitude, grace and grandeur,
conferring divine blessings on all devotees.

Ashtabandhanam
Priests performing Vedic yajña at Vishnu Kunda according to Vaikhanasas' agamashastra
as part of Kumbhabhishekam at Gunjanarasimhaswamy Temple, T. Narsipur
Ashta means 8 in Sanskrit and Bandhanam means tying or fixing. Ashtabandhanam is the
process of affixing an icon to its pedestal (peetham) with a clay-like paste made of 8 specific
herbs mixed with wood lac, limestone powder, resin, red ochre, beeswax and butter. The paste is
formed into long rolls about 2 cm thick and applied directly around the base of the icon, so that
the cemented joints become watertight. This process is believed to keep the icon rejuvenated for
a period of 12 years. When the Bandhanam is performed with gold (Swarnabandhanam), the
rejuvenating power of the deity is believed to last for a period of 100 years.

The '''Ashtabandhanam' paste is pliable like rubber. Through repeated interactions

with abhishekha dravyams - materials used to bathe the icon during daily worship like water,
milk, buttermilk, sandal paste and oils - and atmospheric oxidants, the paste loses its flexibility,
becomes rigid and gets riddled with a lot of fissures. Through these fissures, the abhisheka
dravyams percolate and attack the Yantra embedded under the peetham, obliterating
the Bijaksharamantras -- mantras of sacred syllables (bija) -- that are inscribed on the Yantra,
and this is believed to contribute to the lowering of the pranic spiritual power of the deity with
the passage of time.

Kumbabhishekam being performed at Uchipillaiyar temple at Kumbakonam To the right Hindu

Priests carry out rituals at the Kumbabhishekam in Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple in
Rameswaram
Examining the relationship between popular Hinduism and contemporary Hindu nationalism
Christopher Fuller, The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India, Princeton
University Press, 1992, 61 observed that among the various iconocentric traditions within South
Asia, “the devotees’ worship is addressed to the deity as image and to the deity whose power
is in the image. In this book the thesis was that popular Hinduism is shaped, above all, by
worship of a multitude of powerful divine beings — a superabundance indicated by the
proverbial total of 330 million gods and goddesses. The fluid relationship between these beings
and humans in popular Hinduism in the context of the society of contemporary India bringing
clarity to an immensely complicated subject. C. J. Fuller combines ethnographic case studies
with comparative anthropological analysis and draws on textual and historical scholarship as
well.

Consecration rituals (pratiṣṭhā) specially designed to convert statues of stone, metal, wood, or
other materials into holy receptacles raise fundamental questions regarding the South Asian
connection between deity and image, specifically the incongruity between that which is lifeless
and that which is animated

In the essays in Consecration Rituals in South Asia the author István Keul  who is professor in
the study of religions at the University of Bergen (Norway) and has published a monograph on
Hanuman and has edited volumes on tantra, yoginis, and science and technology in South
Asia.then offers a comprehensive survey – primarily textually-based – of the pratiṣṭhā in
multiple religious contexts and in various historical periods.

The sources examined include pratiṣṭhā-related chapters in an early encyclopedic text

(Pratiṣṭhāpanādhyāya), early Śaiva treatises
(Sarvajñānottara and Niśvāsatattvasaṃhitā), Āgamas, a late-classical Buddhist text
(Mūlyamantrasūtra), Vaiṣṇava Pāñcarātra sources
(Paramasaṃhitā, Jayākhyasaṃhitā, Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, and Hayaśīrṣa Pāñcarātra), and
Jain manuals (Pratiṣṭhāpāṭha).

William Chavez, a doctoral student in Religious Studies at the University of California,

Santa Barbara who reviewed the above book says that the volume’s first major
contribution, the essays are thoroughly engrained in South Asian Studies, engaging the religious
dimensions of mūrtis (chapter 7), darshan (chapter 12, albeit briefly), astrological ritual
structures (chapter 2), the evolution of liṅgas (chapter 3), the importance of local deities
like nagas, the origin of tantrism (both chapter 6), the relationship between “Temple Hinduism”
and Puranic religions (chapter 8), death practices and funeral rites (chapter 10), and even South
Asian diaspora (chapter 11). Unfortunately, the importance of apotropaism is not discussed as
much as I predicted. That said, Marko Geslani’s essay (chapter 2) shows how various elements
of Vedic ritual as well as astrological motifs are preserved in late-Vedic and Puranic installation
ceremonies, many of which include variants of what he calls the “apotropaic consecration,” an
aspersion ceremony based on Atharvan śānti paradigms, originally designed to counteract
inauspicious forces (see 18, 32-40). Shingo Einoo’s essay on the planting of trees and the
dedication of a garden (chapter 10) likewise features hints at apotropaic consecration specifically
in the form of adorcism and ancestral worship (247-52).
Ethnographic accounts of consecration rituals include a Jain pratiṣṭhā in Jaipur, a temple and
image consecration in Hamm-Uentrop (Germany), and the installation of a Hanumān image in
Varanasi (7). Pratiṣṭhā rituals, in general, have received substantial scholarly attention over the
years, which editor István Keul reviews in the introduction of this volume (chapter 1). However,
few of those studies have been particularly focused on the folk practices of the locals and their
personal concerns regarding the performance of the consecration rituals. This marks the second
major contribution of the present volume.

For instance, in 2008, Gough had witnessed the Greater Phoenix in Arizona ceremony
described above. Many of the Digambaras at the Center were followers of a relatively new
branch of Jainism, the Kānjī Svāmī Panth, which has rejected the need for mendicancy,
advocating for a lay path to liberation.

Given the sanctity of the event, the Digambaras still invited a ritual specialist (a layman, not a
monk) from India to perform the pratiṣṭhā ceremony (265-66). Ultimately this volume is
dedicated to “the complexity and various morphological levels of the consecration procedures”
(14). As Keul writes in his own contribution (chapter 13), much of this approach has to do with
what Thomas Tweed called the “Quotidian Turn,” which is a “tendency to attend most fully to
ordinary people and everyday life, which minimizes the significance of clergy, beliefs,
ecclesiastical institutions, prescribed rituals and consecrated spaces” (“After the Quotidian Turn:
Interpretive Categories and Scholarly Trajectories in the Study of Religion since the
1960s,” Journal of Religion 95:3, 2015, 379). Keul added, “Even if image installations belong to
the repertoire of organized, ‘prescribed’ religion, the present essay can be nevertheless located in
an interpretive tradition that analyzes the everyday. It looks at practiced religion, the actual
performance of a ritual that is, to be sure, based on prescriptive texts and is highly
choreographed, but that nevertheless also has distinctive individual, particular features: its
environment, the actors and the artefacts involved, the liberties taken (adaption, improvisation,
etc.)” (353-54).
To understand the above I present the following text modified from the one written by
Jain Sects and Religious Visual Culture
TIME LINE
-301
Gradual split into two sects
Disputes about different practices and beliefs, perhaps revolving around clothing and nudity,
probably begin around the fourth century BCE. These eventually lead to the ‘hardening of
boundaries’ between the forerunners of the two main Jain sects: the Śvetāmbaras (white-clad) the
Digambaras (sky-clad)
100
Jainism had a sectarian split by the end of the first century CE
Two Major Sects: the Śvetāmbara and the Digambara
1400

The Śvetāmbara sub-sects - the Murtīpūjak (image worshippers)

The term "Śvetāmbara Murtīpūjak" arose between the 15th and 17th centuries, chiefly to
distinguish members of this sect from Śvetāmbaras who do not worship images, namely the
Sthānaka-vāsins and the Terāpanthins.
1600

Early Śvetāmbara Sthānaka-vāsins (non-image worshippers, aniconic sect)

The 17th century sees the first traces of the Śvetāmbara monastic order later known as the
Sthānaka-vāsin. Founded by monks who broke away from the Loṅkā-gaccha, this group rejects
the worship of images.

1600

Digambara Terāpanthin and Bīs-panth arise

The Digambara sect is broadly distributed into two major traditions (sub-sects) such as the
Bīsāpanthīs (path of twenty) and the Terāpanthīs.From around the second half of the 17th
century, the Digambara Terāpanthin sect appear in northern India. It rejects the institution of the
bhaṭṭārakas and certain temple rituals. Distinctive features of this sect include: - standing to
worship images of Jinas - making offerings only of dry substances in worship rites, such as rice
and almonds - avoiding the lamp ceremony – āratī – performed in other Jain sects.

1700

The Śvetāmbara Terāpanthīs (path of Thirteen)

Foundation of the Śvetāmbara Terāpanthin monastic order, led by a single ācārya. He holds all
the power in the sect and is chosen by his predecessor.

1900

Rājacandra movement or Kavi Panth (followers of Śrīmad Rājcandra)

The life and writings of the mystic and reformer Śrīmad Rājacandra (1867–1901 CE) inspire a
secular movement. His followers claim it represents a new path in Jainism, neither Śvetāmbara
nor Digambara.

1900

Kānjī-svāmī-panth
This is a Digambara-based non-sectarian tradition of the 20th century founded by Kānjī-svāmī
(1889–1980).

Digambara Terāpanthin and Bīs-panth arise

1600
 The Śvetāmbara sub-sects - the Murtīpūjak (image worshippers)
1400
Jainism had a sectarian split by the end of the first century CE
The Śvetāmbara sub-sects - the Murtīpūjak (image worshippers)
Early Śvetāmbara Sthānaka-vāsins (non-image worshippers, aniconic sect)
Digambara Terāpanthin and Bīs-panth arise
The Śvetāmbara Terāpanthīs (path of Thirteen)
Rājacandra movement or Kavi Panth (followers of Śrīmad Rājcandra)
Kānjī-svāmī-panth
Jainism had a sectarian split by the end of the first century CE. The largest set with which a Jain
laity or ascetic can be associated is the concept of ‘sect’.

 There are two principal sects and several subsects in Jainism: the Śvetāmbara (white-
clad) and the Digambara (sky-clad). These two primary sects are further distributed and
divided into various sub-sects.
 The Śvetāmbara sect is further divided into the sub-sects such as the Murtīpūjak (image
worshippers), the Sthānakvāsī (non-image worshippers), and the Śvetāmbara Terāpanthīs
(path of Thirteen).
 The Digambara sect is broadly distributed into two major traditions (sub-sects) such as
the Bīsāpanthīs (path of twenty) and the Terāpanthīs; and the sub-sects such as the Tāraṇa
Svāmī Panth, the Gumāna Panth, and the Totā Panth.
 Also, there are two sects which were formed during the late twentieth century. They are
Kavi Panth (followers of Śrīmad Rājcandra) and Kānjī Panth (followers of Kānjī Svāmī)

Visual Culture and Jain Sects:

In the below section, you will explore key-features of the various Jain sects' visual culture:
Digambara
The Digambara sect is named after one particular practice of its monks. The monks live naked,
following the example of the Jinas and their monastic disciples, who they believe rejected
clothing as part of their renunciation of all worldly attachments. They are thus 'clothed' – ambara
– in 'the directions' or 'the sky' – dik or dig. The sect is therefore known as Digambara, from the
Sanskrit phrase meaning ‘sky-clad’. Only full monks – munis – go naked, as it is recognised as a
test of complete detachment. Novice monks wear some clothing. Female ascetics wear white
garments. Forbidden to go naked, they are unable to renounce as fully as men so they are
technically lay women who have taken advanced vows.

closed eyes
naked
usually lack jewellery and
embellishment
Images of Jinas (Tirthankaras)
Digambara Jain sect version of the Jina's image

Digambara sect Jain monk

Śvetāmbara
Meaning ‘white-clad’ in Sanskrit, the term Śvetāmbara described the white clothing of monks
and nuns in this sect. They wear simple white – śveta – cotton robes – ambara.

open eyes
wear loincloths
often painted and set in ornately sculpted altars and
Images of Jinastemples
(Tirthankaras)
Śvetāmbara Mūrtipūjaka version of the Jina's image

Śvetāmbara Mūrtipūjaka version of the Jina's image

Śvetāmbara Jain Monk: The Śvetāmbara sects agree on the:

1. authority of the Śvetāmbara canonical scriptures, with slight differences.

2. claims of monastic descent from Sudharman, except for the Upakeśa-gaccha.
3. white monastic robes of monks and nuns

Śvetāmbara Murtīpūjak

The Mūrti-pūjak Śvetāmbaras form the largest group within the Śvetāmbaras, one of the two
main sects in the Jain faith. Meaning ‘white-clad’ in Sanskrit, the term Śvetāmbara describes the
white clothing of monks and nuns in this order. The name Mūrti-pūjaka means ‘worshipper of
images’ in Sanskrit, referring to the worship of images of the Jinas. The term arose between the
15th and 17th centuries, chiefly to distinguish members of this sect from Śvetāmbaras who do
not worship images, namely the Sthānaka-vāsins and the Terāpanthins. The largest subsect
within the Śvetāmbara sect is the Mūrti-pūjak, who in turn are made up of several smaller
subsects.

Sthānakvāsī
The Sthānaka-vāsin are a specific sectarian tradition of the Śvetāmbara Jains which includes
monastic orders and lay followers. They are found mainly in Gujarat and in the Hindi- and
Punjabi-speaking areas of North India. The word Sthānaka-vāsin literally means 'hall-dweller' in
Sanskrit and should be understood as being the opposite of mūrti-pūjaka or 'image-worshippers'.
A 'hall' here is an empty building, contrasted with temples where images of the Jinas are housed
and worshipped. First found in a text written in 1630, the term 'Sthānaka-vāsin' became regularly
used only at the beginning of the 20th century. The Sthānaka-vāsins are sometimes considered to
be ‘protestant’ Jains.

- Rejection of image-worship:  The laity generally rejects material forms of worship such as
performing rituals and praying to idols. Instead they worship mentally, through meditation –
dhyāna – and study – svādhyāya. Practising the austerities – tapas – of fasting and asceticism is
also a focus of religious practice. As with the Śvetāmbara Terāpanthin sect, which was formed
after an 18th-century schism within the Sthānaka-vāsin, the Sthānaka-vāsin laity focuses worship
on individual ascetics, as symbols of the ideal life.Nowadays, an elaborate infrastructure of halls
– sthānakas – which double as monasteries for visiting mendicants, exists for communal
performance of these practices.

Śvetāmbara Terāpanthīs
The Terāpanthins are the monastic members and lay followers of the Terāpantha, a Śvetāmbara
Jain order. Associated with Rajasthan since its foundation in the 18th century, the Terāpantha
sect is expanding rapidly among Jains inside and outside India. The Hindi term terāpantha or
Sthānakavāsin Jain sect mendicant dwelling-hall - Upāśraya

Sthānakavāsin Jain sect nuns and a female laity

terahpantha means either ‘your path’ or ‘path of 13’. Terāpanthins follow 13 main elements of
Jain thought. They do not worship images but practise asceticism and ‘insight meditation’. The
major characteristics of the Śvetāmbara Terāpanthin sect are the concentration of power in a
single ācārya and a new type of ascetic – the male samaṇas and the female samaṇis. All Jains
believe that they should avoid actions that produce bad karma because it blocks liberation of the
soul. Terāpanthins also believe that believers seeking liberation should avoid actions that
produce good karma too, because both good and bad karma ultimately obstruct salvation.

-  Significant beliefs and practices: The Terāpanthin do not worship images. Formed after a
schism within the Sthānaka-vāsin Jains, who are against idol worship, the Terāpanthin sect has
rejected image worship from its beginnings. However, the Terāpanthins worship their living
teachers as examples of religious conduct to follow.
- Key characteristics of the sect's practices include:

 'insight meditation' – prekṣā dhyāna

 Festival of Restraint – Maryādā Mahotsava
 Modernising outlook, demonstrated in the Aṇuvrat movement, creation of a new
mendicant category, stress on female education and  the nayā moḍ – 'new turn'.

Digambara Bīsāpanthīs and Digambara Terāpanthīs

These two Digambara groups are found among the lay communities of north India. Since this division refers ch
worship, it does not really apply to Digambara monastic communities. As full renunciates, they do not perform
same way as lay people. However, there have been cases of Digambara mendicants being associated with a sp
headed by a bhaṭṭāraka. The institution of the bhaṭṭārakas started to be challenged and criticised in 17th-century
division between the two sects emerged. The development of the Terā-panthins and Bīs-panthins thus had
mendicants as well. There was no such challenge in south India and therefore these subsects do not exist there
two subsects, Terā-panthins may be regarded as having views that are more radical or less compromising th
 Terā-panthins
Reject the authority of the Digambara clerics – the bhaṭṭārakas
Worship Jina images
Do not worship images of deities that have not achieved liberation, such as yakṣas, yakṣīs and kṣetrapālas
Worshippers do not use any substance considered to contain life in rituals
The lamp ceremony is not performed
Followers worship while standing rather than while seated

Bīs-panthins
Accept the authority of the bhaṭtārakas
Worship Jina images
Worship images of deities, who are unliberated
Worshippers offer the eight objects, such as flowers, fruits and sandalwood
The lamp ceremony is performed
Followers worship while seated or standing

Characteristics of Digambara Terā-panthins and Bīs-panthins

Tāraṇa Svāmī Panth
Members of the Taraṇ Svāmī Panth are the lay followers of Taraṇ Svāmī (1448–1515), a
Digambara thinker who 'took the vows of a celibate and thereby became a formal renouncer'
(Cort 2006: 265). In a period where full-fledged naked Digambara monks were rare, such
celibate renouncers had an important role to play. Taraṇ Svāmī became a full Digambara monk
at the end of his life. He has been presented as a 'Digambara mystic, as Digambara ritual
reformer, as trans-sectarian iconoclastic poet, as miracle-worker, and as Jina-to-be.' Today
followers of this lay path, the Taraṇ Svāmi Panthins, are mainly found in central India, especially
in the historical area of Bundelkhand, in Madhya Pradesh. Numbering between 20,000 and
100,000, they do not worship Jina images, although their founder’s writings do not seem to really
criticise this. Instead they venerate books by Taraṇ Svāmi and Kundakunda and also other
Digambara scriptures, especially those that stress the nature of the soul. Kundakunda’s Samaya-
sāra is a key text so this movement is also called Sāmāiya-panth – 'the Path of Sacred Books'.
Books and not images are the objects of worship in their temples. The most important temple is
known as ‘Nisaījī’, near the village of Malhargarh in Guna district. It is a memorial, as it was the
place where the founder spent the last years of his life and died.

zz

Kundakunda is a teacher – ācārya, from the Digambara sect

Kavi Panth (followers of Śrīmad Rājcandra)
Śrīmad Rājacandra was a well-known lay figure of the late 19th century, associated with
Gujarat, he lived as a lay man. He never taking initiation as a monk. The keywords of his
teachings are:

 asceticism
 understanding the deeper meaning of Jainism beyond sectarian differences
 the ultimate goal of full realisation of the soul
temple/meditation hall dedicated to Śrīmad Rājacandra (1867-1901)
Kānjī Panth (followers of Kānjī Svāmī)

This is a Digambara-based non-sectarian tradition of the 20th century founded by Kānjī-svāmī

(1889–1980). Born into a Śvetāmbara Sthānaka-vāsin family, Kānjī-svāmi became a monk in
this tradition. But when he discovered Kundakunda’s works, with their emphasis on the nature of
the soul, he had a change of heart. In 1934, he publicly disrobed and turned to the Digambara
path, which he considered the only true one. Stressing the higher level of truth, Kānjī-svāmi was
a charismatic preacher and attracted many followers. The Kānjī-svāmī-panth is a good instance
of a non-sectarian Jain movement that attracts people from all religious backgrounds. It has no
association with monastic orders even though Kānjī-svāmi was a monk. Songadh in Gujarat was
the first centre linked to the Kānjī-svāmī movement and new centres are appearing regularly in
India. Kānjī-svāmi’s spiritual path is also successful among the Jain diaspora.