Shobhnath temple is an ancient Jain

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

located in the

Shravasti Shravasti (, ; ) is a town in Shravasti district in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was the capital of the ancient Indian kingdom of Kosala which was ruled by Lava and the place where the Buddha lived most after his enlightenment. It is n ...

city of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

Importance

Shravasti is believed to be the birthplace of the Sambhavanatha, the third

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 ...

. Sambhavanatha also took the diksha from a nearby forest named Sahetuk forest and spent 14 years before attaining

moksha ''Moksha'' (; , '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'', and ''mukti'', is a term in Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, liberation, '' nirvana'', or release. In its soteriological and eschatologic ...

. This site was also visited by

Chandraprabha Chandraprabha () or Chandranatha is the eighth Tirthankara of of Jainism in the present age (). According to traditional accounts, he was born to King Mahasena and Queen Lakshmana Devi at Chandrapuri to the Ikshvaku dynasty. According to Jain ...

, the eighth

, during his (travel).

History

Shravasti was ruled by Jain king from 9th—10th century such as Mayurdhwaj (900 CE), Hansdhwaj (925 CE), Makardhwaj (950 CE), Sudhavadhwaj (975 CE) and Suhridhwaj (1000 CE). Harivamsa Purana, composed by Jain acharya Jinasena in 783 CE, narrates the installation images of

Kamadeva Kamadeva (, ), also known as Kama, Manmatha, and Madana is the Deva (Hinduism), Hindu god of Eroticism, erotic love, carnal desire, attraction, pleasure and beauty, as well as the personification of the concept of ''kāma''. He is depicted as a ...

and

Rati Rati (, ) is the Hinduism, Hindu Devi, goddess of List of love and lust deities, love, carnal desire, lust, passion, and sexual pleasure. Usually described as the daughter of ''Prajapati'' Daksha, Rati is the female counterpart, the chief consor ...

by ''Kamadatta'' in front of the temple.

Kartik Purnima Kartika Purnima (), also known as Kartika Pournami, is a Hindu, Sikh, and Jain cultural festival that is celebrated on ''purnima'' (full moon day), the 15th day of the lunar month Kartika. It falls on November or December of the Gregorian ...

is the primary festival of this temple. Shobhnath temple is mentioned in the Vividha Tirtha Kalpa composed by Jinaprabha Suri in 14th century.

About temple

The temple is dedicated to the Sambhavanatha to commemorate his birthplace. The irani style dome was added to the temple

medieval period In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

. The remains of three Jain temples were found during the excavations. A number of Jain idols has been discovered in padmasan and

kayotsarga Kayotsarga ( , ) is a yogic posture which is an important part of the Jain meditation. It literally means "dismissing the body". A tirthankara is represented either seated in yoga posture or standing in the kayotsarga posture. ''Kayotsarga' ...

posture dating back to 10th—11th century CE from lower part of the temple. It is believed that idols of all 24 Tirthankaras existed here. The idol of

Rishabhanatha Rishabhanatha (Devanagari: ऋषभनाथ), also Rishabhadeva (Devanagari: ऋषभदेव, ), Rishabha (Devanagari: ऋषभ, ) or Ikshvaku (Devanagari: इक्ष्वाकु, ''Ikṣvāku''), is the first (Supreme preacher) ...

found during the excavation is noteworthy. The idol has Rishabhanatha in padmasan posture with three umberallas over the head, two lions and bull carved beneath his legs and

yaksha The Yakshas (, , ) in Mythology are a broad class of nature spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Bud ...

- yakshi on each side. Idols of ''

chaitya A chaitya, chaitya hall, chaitya-griha, (Sanskrit:''Caitya''; Pāli: ''Cetiya'') refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions. The term is most common in Buddhism, where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded ...

vriksha'' (chaitya-tree) and Goddessess have also been discovered. According to estimates there could be as many as 18 temples in the area. Two new Jain temples were constructed in 1966 and 1995 respectively. Three Jain temples, two belonging to Śvētāmbara and one

Digambara ''Digambara'' (; "sky-clad") is one of the two major Jain schools and branches, schools of Jainism, the other being ''Śvetāmbara'' (white-clad). The Sanskrit word ''Digambara'' means "sky-clad", referring to their traditional monastic pract ...

, were constructed recently. A fair is organised annually in October-November to commemorate Janma kalyāṇaka of Sambhavanatha.

Importance

History

About temple

See also

References

Citations

Sources

External links