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46
as well as Raghuvamsa1. Like the temple of Somanatha this place was also desecrated and destroyed by the Muslims. But again it saw the revival of its glory at the time of the Maharathas2. At present it is in the hands of the Brāhmaṇas, but, according to the Jaina tradition, it was originally a holy place of the Jainas. It seems to have been a current practice in India that a place consecrated as holy by one particular religious sect is subsequently claimed by other sects as their particular holy place. After a time, round such a holy place, there springs up quite a network of temples built by Vaiṣṇava, Śaiva, Jaina, Buddha and other sects. Often rival religions lay claim upon one and the same temple and the possession of that temple or holy place changes hands as time changes The same has happened in the case of Mahakāla. Its importance is mentioned in Brahmin works, while on the other hand the Jainas claim that it was the original temple of the Jainas and Huentsang in his book of travels says that when be visited Ujjaina it was an important place of the Bauddhas. From all this, it can safely be said that Mahakala once occupied such a high place in the religious traditions of all the religions in India that it was simultaneously claimed by all of them. As a similar instance, can be mentioned the holy place of Benares, which from times immemorial was regarded as the most important place by the Vedic religion on one hand and the Bauddhas and the Jainas on the other.
The
1 Raghu. Canto VI v. 34.
2
See p. 45 n. 4.
3 Ibid.
INTRODUCTION
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