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position and
all of polished marble. Associated with this mandir there are many modern guest houses allowing for lay visitors and travelling munis to rest and enjoy a contemplative stay. Gommat Giri could also facilitate larger research groups interested in studying jainism such as the international summer school for Jaina studies directed by Shugan C. Jain based in Dehli together with his team. Both in and around, Indore historical Jaina sites include siddhavara Kūta, pāvāgiri, Maksī. Baedia, Badāvanī, etc.
Besides Indore as a centre of Jainism, another historically significant city located about 56 kilometers north is ujjain. Jainism enjoys a long history in this area as Ujjain was the ancient capital of the Malva religion and also the location of the purported meeting spot after the Jaina group returned from the northern famine. Chandraguta maurya, the founder of the maurya dynasty (350-200BCE) is said to have taken part in the migration to the south and later Ujjain became a Maurya capital. Ujjain is also noted as an ancient centre of trade and considered one of the holiest cities in india. This city has a plethora of temples ancient, medieval, and modern that are marvelous in the construction and religiously significant. Mahakaleshvar is a temple built in the 10a Century ACE and is surrounded by a grouping of various Hindu shrines. For Jainas this city is important for the above mentioned historical reasons but in Ujjain is also found the Jaisinghpura. This Mughal period mandir has undergone recent renovations. It became a store house for Jaina relics from around the region. Today in the mandir itself you can see a variety of relics and idols, and one on display is inscribed with the date 1403. The museum behind the mandir, though in need improvement, houses a valuable collection of Jaina icons, statues, and artifacts. For any Jaina scholar inerested in medieval and mughal history of Madhya Pradesh the JaisinghPura Museum would be an excellent collection for research. In cojunction to this the Vikram University at Ujjain has many knowledgeable professors in their Ancient Indian History Department for which to consult about this period.
As for my time Indore, I have been residing at the Kundakunda Janapitha and utilizing their scholarly facilities. In an effort to spread Jaina knowledge and ideas the
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Front view of Udāsina Ashram
For Private & Personal Use Only
Arhat Vacana, 19 (3), 2007
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