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પાર્શ્વનાથ
[ ૫૯ ]
of the temple and idol; their title and right of management had been exclusive, and they had been worshipping the image with jewels, ornaments and paintings, the male organ of the diety being covered with the waist-tie and band for a period, which could not be definitely ascertained, but at any rate from 1847-48. The Digambaris had also been allowed to worship in their own way in the temple; but the witnesses of the winership of the Digambaris on the point of the ownership of the temple and its management were not believed.
As the result, however, of the evidence taken, the period of association, gaurdedly dealt with by both disputants, assumed a significance more decisive than either of them had been prepared to acknowledge. It was disclosed that, at the commencement of the present century, the management of the temple, although nominally in the hands of the Swetambaris, had been in fact usurped by the servants of the temple known as Polkars, who for many years had exercised independent control and had become perfect masters of the situation as the learned Trial Judge expressed it. They set their employers at defiance, and, to consolidate their own position, tried to play off the Digambaris against the Swetambaris. They also maltreated and plundered the pilgrims. The two sects united to face
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