Calcutta Sheetalnath Jain Temple - Rai Badridas Bahadur Statue

Rai Bahadur Badridas Mookim (also referred to as Rai Badridas Bahadur Mookim; 1833–1913) was a noted jeweler, philanthropist, Jain social leader and founder of the

Calcutta Jain Temple Kolkata Jain Temple (also known as Parshwanath Temple) is a Śvetāmbara Jain temple at Badridas Temple Street, Gouribari in Maniktala and a major tourist attraction of Kolkata, India. The temple construction in 1867 was paid for by philanthr ...

Biography

He belonged to

Shrimal Jain Shrimal (Srimal) Jain is an ancient Jain community, originally from Rajasthan, Shrimal or Bhinmal town in southern Rajasthan. They were traditionally wealthy merchants and money lenders and were prominent ministers at the court of Rajput kin ...

community and was son of Kalkadas. He migrated to Calcutta in 1853 from

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

and soon established himself as a leading jeweler of the town with his honesty, integrity and enterprise. In 1871, Viceroy Lord Mayo appointed him the Mookim State Jeweller and honoured with the title of

Rai Bahadur Rai Bahadur (in North India) and Rao Bahadur (in South India), R.B., was a title of honour bestowed during British rule in India to individuals for outstanding service or acts of public welfare to the Empire. From 1911, the title was accompani ...

He is noted for building the

located at Badridas Temple Street in north

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. Inspired by his mother, he purchased the whole area including the big pond and got the pond filled up and constructed there the grand and artistic famous Garden Jain Temple which is now a center of attraction of a large number of foreign and Indian tourists of

. On completion of the temple in 1867, under the instructions of Jain saint, Kalyansuriji he decided to install there the image of Bhagwan Shitalnath. In search of a suitable Jain image he traveled extensively in the country. Under a miraculous intuition, an old image was dug out from a Jain temple, buried under ground near Agra. Greatly joyous, he brought the image to Calcutta with much respect and got it installed in the temple he had built at Calcutta. Later, with the inspirations and cooperation of Seth Maneck Chand, J.P. of

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

, he got closed a pig slaughter house which was opened at

Shikharji Shikharji (), also known as Sammet or Sammed Shikharji, is one of the holiest pilgrimage sites for Jains, in Giridih district, Jharkhand. It is located on Parasnath hill, the highest mountain in the state of Jharkhand. It is the most important ...

. Apart from Calcutta Jain Temple, he also built Jain temples in Shikharji and Purimatal at

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

. He was also the member of first delegation of 36 members, which met

Harcourt Butler Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler (1 August 1869 – 2 March 1938) was an officer of the Indian Civil Service who was the leading British official in Burma for much of his career, serving as Lieutenant-Governor (1915–17 and 1922–23) and later Go ...

under leadership of

Madan Mohan Malviya Madan Mohan Malaviya (25 December 1861 — 12 November 1946; ) was an Indian scholar, educational reformer and activist notable for his role in the Indian independence movement. He was president of the Indian National Congress three times and ...

that proposed for foundation of a Hindu University in 1911. Rai Badridas is the founder Chairman of
Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and industry
He is also the founder of Panjrapole society and Dharamkanta of Johri Bazar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mukeem, Badridas 1833 births 1913 deaths 20th-century Indian Jains Businesspeople from Kolkata Indian goldsmiths Indian jewellers Rai Bahadurs 19th-century Indian Jains 19th-century Indian philanthropists Social leaders