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RITUALS
D08 - Jain Temples & Pilgrimage Places
D08 - Jain Temples & Pilgrimage Places
A Jain temple is a place of worship where a person experiences immense peace and serenity. It is a beautiful, quiet and peaceful place to reflect upon our true nature and soul. It promotes introspection, and brings home the feeling that God/Soul resides within one's self. Therefore, each person can follow a path of purification of the inner self, devoid of anger, ego, deceit, and greed. More than 80% of Jains of both the Shvetämbar and Digambar traditions believe in worshiping Tirthankar images in temples. Primarily two types of Tirthankar images exist in the Jain temples. The images with semi-closed eyes are adopted by the Digambar tradition whereas the images with open eyes are adopted by the Shvetämbar tradition. 01 Digambar and Shvetämbar Images Digambars keep the images in their natural undecorated form. Shvetämbars decorate the Tirthankar's images luxuriously. This symbolizes that Tirthankars were kings, had much royal wealth, yet did not find happiness in such material possessions. They renounced all their wealth for the benefit of society and took vows of complete non possession. An image (murti) of a Tirthankar either sitting in Padmasan posture or standing straight, illustrates the form of deepest meditation. The face and eyes shower the devotee with compassion and inspire calmness within. The image represents the qualities of a Tirthankar but not the physical body. Hence the images of all Tirthankars are similar. Usually an image is carved from marble or cast from metal. Both Digambar and Shvetämbar Jain temples are famous for their unique intricate art and elaborate architecture. Each Tirthankar has a unique emblem or symbol (Länchhan) that distinguishes the specific Tirthankar image from the images of other Tirthankars. This symbol is found on the base of each image. Before entering the temple one must take off their shoes. One should not eat, drink or chew anything in the temple, nor should one run-around, shout, talk to others, or socialize in the temple. When one enters the temple one should say 'Nissihi', meaning to leave behind'. This means that by mind, speech and action we are leaving all our worldly relations outside the temple, which in turn implies leaving our vices (Kashäyas) namely anger, ego, deceit and greed. A donation box in a temple promotes anonymous giving. 02 Few Recommendations regarding Offerings at the Temple The following statements by any means do not disrespect the ancient offerings during rituals since cows, calves and all animal lives were treated compassionately without interference in their life cycle. The principle of nonviolence should not be compromised during the offerings of the religious rituals. We need to practice the religion based on Time, Place, and Circumstances we are surrounded by. One should not use milk and sweets for puja and Ghee for divo or lamp as almost all modern dairy products are obtained by torturing and exploiting cows and other animals. The milk producing cows are kept pregnant all the time during their fertile life and are slaughtered after their milk yield drops by 30% which is around 5 years of age while their life expectancy is 15 years. In pujä, one should use pure water instead of water mixed with milk, use dry fruits instead of sweets, and use Castor oil instead of Ghee. About 100 years ago all Jain temples used castor oil for divo. Also one should not use silver foil (Varakh) for decoration images as Varakh is manufactured using the intestine of a cow. One should not wear pearls, silk, fur and leather as they are obtained by killing oysters, worms and animals. 03 Jain Pilgrimage Places (Jain Tirths) The pilgrimage to sacred places is a part of the tradition for practically every religion in the world. The hardships of the journey discipline the body and the company of fellow pilgrims strengthens the religious
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Compendium of Jainism - 2015
