Champapuri, Champa Nagri or Champanagar is a neighbourhood in
Bhagalpur in the Indian state of
Bihar
Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
. It is the site of the ancient city of Champa, the capital of the
Anga Mahajanapada. It is also the main centre of capital of
cultural region of
Anga.
Champapuri is claimed to be the only place where all the five kalyanas- garbha, janma, diksha, kevalagnana and moksha kalyana of Bhagwan Vasupujya took place. It is said that Bhagawan
Adinatha, Bhagwan
Parshwanatha and Bhagawan
Mahavira
Mahavira (Devanagari: महावीर, ), also known as Vardhamana (Devanagari: वर्धमान, ), was the 24th ''Tirthankara'' (Supreme Preacher and Ford Maker) of Jainism. Although the dates and most historical details of his lif ...
had their monsoon stay at this place. Bhagawan Mahavira had his third and twelfth monsoon stay at this place. There is an idol of Bhagavan at the temple.
An ancient temple of Champanala is seen at this place.
Significance
Champapuri is also believed to be birthplace of
Vasupujya, the twelfth tirthankara.
Teerthankara Adinath divided the country into 52 Janapadas; of these one was Anga and its capital was The chief pupil - Pattadhara of Tirthankara
Mahavir Sudharmaswami and
Jambuswami also came here.The fervent devotees of Shri Mahavira - Shravaka Kamadeva, Sudarshan Sheth, emperor Shripala and Satee Chandanbala were also born here.
According to
Aupapatika Sutra (c. 1st-2nd century CE) forms part of the 12
Jain upanga āgamas as per
Śvetāmbara
The Śvetāmbara (; also spelled Shwetambara, Shvetambara, Svetambara or Swetambara) is one of the two main branches of Jainism, the other being the Digambara. ''Śvetāmbara'' in Sanskrit means "white-clad", and refers to its ascetics' practi ...
tradition, a holy garden Purnabhadra
Chaitya was situated to the north-east of this ancient city. When
Mahavira
Mahavira (Devanagari: महावीर, ), also known as Vardhamana (Devanagari: वर्धमान, ), was the 24th ''Tirthankara'' (Supreme Preacher and Ford Maker) of Jainism. Although the dates and most historical details of his lif ...
visited Champa he is said to have lodged at this chaitya.
Many Jain ascetics, like Muni Dharmaghosh, Muni Padmarath, Ashok and Anchal, attained salvation there, as it was a Siddhakshetra An ancient temple of Champanala is seen at this place.
Archaeology
The ancient city had an occupation of the
Northern Black Polished Ware culture (700-200 BCE), with a surrounding fortification and moat. It was a notable centre of trade and commerce.
Statue Of Vasupujya
In 2014, the tallest statue of Bhagawan Vasupujya was built and donated by Smt Sona Devi Sethi Charitable Trust based at Dimapur, Nagaland. The statue is 31 feet in height and the stone for the statue was brought all the way from Karnataka.
References
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Jain temples in Bihar
Ancient Indian cities
5th-century BC Jain temples
Indo-Aryan archaeological sites
Tourist attractions in Bihar