________________
A BRIEF HISTORY OF
ТАРИ GeБели
O Ramvallabh Somani.
The Tapa Gachcha was founded by Jagat Chandra Suri who was a great scholar, preacher and an austere ascetic. He remained at Aghatpur (Udaipur) in Mewar and defeated some Digamber scholars also. Because of his practice of penance (he observed the vow of 'Ayamble' all his life) Maharawal Jaitra Singh of Mewar bestowed upon him the title of "Tapa" in V.E. 1285 at Aghat. It is interesting to note that this Gachcha was born in Mewar but grew in strength in Gujrat. Jagat Chandra Suri expired in V.E. 1327 and was succeeded by Devendra Suri 1, Dharam Gosh Suri, Somprabh, Somtilak and Devendra Suri ll one after the other. These Acharyas performed 'pratishthas', 'sangh yatras' and other multifold religious activities. Som Sunder Suri was an able, erudite and competent Acharya. Som Saubhagya Kavya, Guru Gun Ratnakar Kavya and many other works contain manifold details of his life as also of his journeys to Shatrunjay and other places. These 'sangh yatras' were taken out by Shresthis-Govind of Ider, Gunraj of Chittor, Dharna Shah of Ranakpur and many others. It is believed that Som Sunder remained very influential and came to be known as Yug Pradhan. On account of multifarious activities and literary pursuits, his period is called Som Sunder Yuga in literature. He visited Mewar in V.E.1450. Maharana Lakha sent his son Chunda and his
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Shri Vijyanand Suri Swargarohan Shatabdi Granth
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