Ghantakarna Mahavira is one of the fifty-two ''vira''s (protector deities) of Svetambara

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle bein ...

. He is chiefly associated with Tapa Gaccha, a monastic lineage. He was a deity of the Jain ''tantrik'' tradition. There is a shrine dedicated to him at the Mahudi Jain Temple established by

Buddhisagar Suri Buddhisagarsuri (1874 – 1925) was a Jain ascetic, philosopher and author from British India. Born in a Hindu family, he was influenced by a Jain monk and later was initiated in asceticism, and later elevated to the title of ''Acharya''. He wro ...

, a Jain monk, in nineteenth century. It is one of the popular Jain pilgrimage centres of India.

History

Ghantakarna Mahavira is a Jain deity from the Jain tradition and is worshiped and venerated by some specific monastic lineages and probably many laymen. He is one of the fifty-two ''vira''s (protector deities) and is called ''Mahavira'' (Great ''vira''). The verse 67 of ''Gantakarana Mantra Stotra'' by Vimalachandra states that he is worshipped since the time of Haribhadra (c. 6-8th century). There is other corroborating evidence. In ''Ghantakrana-kalpa'', Vimalachandra mentions him as a ''vira'' as well as ''

kshetrapala Kshetrapala ( Pronounced: Xetra pala) is a guardian deity in Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. According to Hinduism and Hindu mythology, Kshetrapala, that is, the lord of the farmland, is a deity who was originally a deity of the farmland, particu ...

'' (guardian deity of the land). Late commentary on the ''Namiuna-stava'' (verse 1) also mentions his veneration. The veneration transmitted from the teacher to the disciple. Ravisagar Suri initiated

(1874-1925) in February 1898. After having direct vision of Ghantakarna, Buddhisagar Suri established an image of Ghantakarna at Mahudi Jain Temple. The worship is further popularised by Jayasimha Suri, Sarabhai Nawab and other Swetambara people. Ghantakarna is not known among

Digambara ''Digambara'' (; "sky-clad") is one of the two major schools of Jainism, the other being '' Śvētāmbara'' (white-clad). The Sanskrit word ''Digambara'' means "sky-clad", referring to their traditional monastic practice of neither possessing ...

Jains.

John E. Cort John E. Cort (born 1953) is an American indologist. He is a professor of Asian and Comparative Religions at Denison University, where he is also Chair of the Department of Religion. He has studied Jainism and the history of Jain society over fo ...

states it as a reformulation of a private tradition in a devotional public tradition.

Worship

Ghantakarna is invoked for protection from variety of obstacles and difficulties such as epidemics, diseases, fire, invasions, ghosts. He is also invoked for the protection from the opponents of Jainism. Mahudi Jain temple is one of the popular Jain pilgrimage centres of India. Thousands of devotees visit it and offers ''

Sukhdi Sukhdi kaleb geaslen is an Indian sweet made from wheat flour and jaggery Jaggery is a traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Africa. It is a concentrated product of cane juice and oft ...

'' (mixture of

jaggery Jaggery is a traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Africa. It is a concentrated product of cane juice and often date or palm sap without separation of the molasses and crystals, and ...

, wheat and

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from India. It is commonly used in India for cooking, as a traditional medicine, and for religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by simmering butter, which is churned from ...

), a sweet there. After offering, it is consumed by devotees within the temple complex. His images are also found in other Jain temples in western India. On '' Kali Chaudas'' (the fourteenth day of the dark half of the month of Aso), thousands of devotees visit the Mahudi temple to attend a religious ceremony, '' Havan''.

Texts

''Gantakarana Mantra Stotra'' is a Sanskrit text associated with him which has 71 verses and is used as a

mantra A mantra ( Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ...

as well as hymn. It was composed in later half of the 16th century by a little known Jain monk Vimalachandra who was a disciple of Sakalachandra, a disciple of Tapa Gaccha monk Hiravijaya Suri. There are other Gantakarna Mantras as well. ''Ghantakrana-kalpadi-sangrah'' published by Sarabhai M. Nawab is a collection of late manuscripts such as ''Ghantakarna-kalpa'' from Jain libraries with 26 illustrations. He has included some instructions in

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

in ''Ghantakarna-kalpa'' No. 2 and No. 3 but has not mentioned its source of translation or any manuscript. The Sanskrit ''mantra'' in No. 3 is the only ''mantra'' common is texts found in Jain libraries.

Mythology

In past life, Ghantakarna Mahavir was a king Tungabhadra or Mahabal from Shrinagar and had died fighting thieves to protect the innocents and pilgrims going to Shri Parvat. He reincarnated as Ghantakarna Mahavir, the thirtieth among fifty-two ''Vira''s (protector deities).

Iconography

There is no Jain textual authority to the iconography of Ghantakarna Mahavir described in ''kalpa'' texts or modern paintings. Until Buddhisagar Suri established anthropomorphic image of Ghantakarna Mahavir at Mahudi Jain Temple, Ghantakarna Mahavir was worshiped only in anthropomorphic

yantra Yantra () (literally "machine, contraption") is a geometrical diagram, mainly from the Tantric traditions of the Indian religions. Yantras are used for the worship of deities in temples or at home; as an aid in meditation; used for the benefit ...

s and in an abstract forms. In paintings, he is depicted as a two, four, six or eight armed with the bow and the arrow. He is also depicted with the shield, the sword, the mace, the shield, the

vajra The Vajra () is a legendary and ritual weapon, symbolising the properties of a diamond (indestructibility) and a thunderbolt (irresistible force). The vajra is a type of club with a ribbed spherical head. The ribs may meet in a ball-shap ...

, the bow and arrow, the rosary, and the banner. The anthropomorphic image shows a standing man holding the bow and the arrow aimed towards left, having a crown on his head and the bell-shaped earrings. He has bell-shaped ears (''Ghanta'' and ''karna'') so he was called Ghantakarna Mahavir.

References