Mahudi Jain Temple (aka Derasar) is situated in

Mahudi Mahudi is a town in Mansa taluka of Gandhinagar district, Gujarat, India situated on the banks of Madhumati river, a tributary of Sabarmati River. It is a pilgrimage centre of Jainism, Jains and other communities visiting the temple of Jain dei ...

town in Mansa taluka of

Gandhinagar district Gandhinagar district is an administrative division of Gujarat, India, whose headquarters are at Gandhinagar, the state capital. It was organized in 1964. It has an area of 2140 km2, and a population of 1,391,753 of which 43.16% lives in u ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

. It is a pilgrimage centre for

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 ...

Jains Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and ...

and other communities who visit the temple of Jain deity, Ghantakarna Mahavir and of the 6th

Tirthankara In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (; ) is a saviour and supreme preacher of the ''Dharma (Jainism), dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a ''Tirtha (Jainism), tirtha'', a fordable passage across ''Saṃsā ...

, Padmaprabh. It was known as Madhupuri historically.

History

Mahudi Jain Temple was established by Śvetāmbara Jain monk,

Buddhisagarsuri 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 wr ...

in 1917 CE (Maghsar Sudi 6,

Vikram Samvat Vikram Samvat (ISO: ''Vikrama Saṁvata''; abbreviated VS), also known as the Vikrami calendar is a Hindu calendar historically used in the Indian subcontinent and still also used in several Indian states and Nepal. It is a lunisolar calendar ...

1974). There is an inscription in

Brahmi script Brahmi ( ; ; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system from ancient India. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as ...

. In 1916 CE, the foundation stone was laid on land donated by Vadilal Kalidas Vora. He, along with Punamchand Lallubhai Shah, Kankkuchand Narsidas Mehta, and Himmatlal Hakamchand Mehta became trustees of a trust established to manage the temple. The central deity of this temple is a 22-inch marble idol of Padmaprabh. There is a separate shrine dedicated to Ghantakarna Mahavir, the protector deity. The deity is holding a bow and arrow, not commonly seen in the temples of this faith which stresses the importance of non-violence. The Guru Mandir, a shrine dedicated to

was established later.

Culture

Devotees offer '' sukhadi'' a sweet that is made fresh on the premises to Ghantakarna Mahavir. After offering a part of it, the remaining is consumed by devotees within the temple complex. Tradition forbids the eating of it inside the main temple and the carrying away of such offerings outside premises. Guards monitor and redirect noncompliant devotees. Every year, on '' Kali Chaudas'' (the fourteenth day of the dark half of the month of Aso), numerous devotees visit the Ghantakarna Mahavir temple to attend a religious ceremony, '' Havan''. Next to the temple outside, devotees of all ages climb a ladder to ring the bell.

Gallery

File:Padmaprabh Swami Bhagwan.1.jpg,

Padmaprabha Padmaprabha, also known as Padmaprabhu, was the sixth Jain Tirthankara of the present age ('' Avsarpini''). According to Jain beliefs, he became a siddha – a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karma. In the Jain tradition, it is ...

image in the Jain temple File:GhantakarnMahvir-RavindraJain.JPG, Ghantakarna Mahavir File:Shri Vadilal Kalidas Vora.jpg, Vadilal Kalidas Vora who donated the land for the temple File:Sukhdi..jpg, ''

Sukhdi Sukhdi kaleb geaslen is an Indian sweet made from wheat flour and jaggery in ghee. Sukhdi is a staple snack like biscuits available in most of the Gujarati households. It is also cooked on auspicious days or on festivals. Originally from Gujara ...

'' - sweet offered to Ghantakarna Mahavir

References

{{Authority control Jain temples in Gujarat Gandhinagar district 20th-century Jain temples Māru-Gurjara architecture Tourist attractions in Gujarat

History

Culture

Gallery

See also

References