________________
84
a
feudatories the Kuma
folded bands. On the full-moon day of Chaitra, & monster procession attended by the king, his feudatories, public servants, and citizens started from the Kumāravibara. An image of Pārsvanātha was set up in a car and exhibited to the Public eye. When the procession came to the palace gate, Kumārapāla worshipped the image of Párávanátha set up in the chariot, in the presence of the congregation and waved lights before it. The chariot of the Jina driven by elephants was led in procession for eight days and exhibited to the public eye. In the month of Āśvin, also, the king celebrated the car-festival for nine days and asked his feudatories to glorify Jainism. The latter obeyed royal commands by building Jain temples, holding car-festivals and honouring Jain monks.56
Somaprabhasūri's account of the car-festivals is confirmed by Hemasūri. In the Mahāviracharita, it is said, “On the whole earth, as far as the ocean, he will cause the statues of the Arhat to be borne in procession, on cars, in every village, in every town.':57 The verse adds to our knowledge by informing us that the car-festivals were not
56. Kumārapūlapratibodha, p. p. 174-5.
57. Hemasūri, Mahäviracharita, XII, 76. Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat www.umaragyanbhandar.com
