Development And Impact Of Jainism In India And Abroad

Author(s): Gunvant Barvalia
Publisher: Arham Spiritual Center

Page 89

Development & Impact of Jainism in India & Abroad
Parshvanath ).The idol is 23" in height and 19" in width.
According to the information available during the period of Siddharaj and Kumarpal, Patan flourished at its peak. These two royal personalities have contributed best for the development of Patan. Even tourists from foreign countries have praised the glory of Patan.
Every inch of land, every temple, every remains of ruins, every library ( Gyanbhandar) and every idol speaks about jain literature, art and culture.
No evidence has been obtained regarding the date of the idol in Sri Mahadev Parshvanath temple. On Vaishakh sud 10, is being celebrated as the installation day by jain community over there every year.
There are many temples in Khetarvasi - Patan.
For the convenience of pilgrims, there are many hospieces ( dharmashalas ) in Patan city. Kotawala Dharmashala, Astapad dharmashala, and Sri Mohanlal Uttamchand dharmashalas are predominant.For the pilgrims,good catering and food facilities are also available in dharmashalas.
PANCHSAR PARSHVANATH JAIN TEMPLE :
It is one the big jain temples in Patan. It reminds that Patan was the centre of jain religion during the Solanki regime .As a symbolic representative of jain architecture, it has modern carvings and marble flooring. The temple of Kapur Mehta Pads is also worth visiting. It has wooden carvings in stones. Earlier all jain temples were made from wood with delicate carvings in them. It is said that once, Shri Uda Mehta, who himself was a noted architect,noticed a mouse holding a lighted candle was running in the temple .On seeing this, he thought this can cause a fire and burn the temple and it may turn into ashes. Since then the use of stone was insisted in construction of all jain temples.
HEMCHANDRACARYA JAIN GYAN MANDIR :
This gyan mandir has been constructed as a mark of respect and to honour the legendary personality Shri Hemchandracharya. His statue has been installed here. His work on grammar "Siddhahemshabdanushasan" was written by himduring the rule of Sjddharaj Jaysingh. It appears that this grammar work is based on Sanskrit grammar of Panini. In a library over here there are numerous handwritten manuscripts which are written on Tadpatra ( leaves ).Some of them are written with golden ink. This is kept open for visitors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The detailed life sketch of Shri Hemchandracaraya in given in Saurastra section of this article.
HEMCHANDRACARYA UTTAR GUJARAT UNIVERSITY : PATAN
The university of North Gujarat has been named as a mark of respect after Acarya Sri Hemchandrachrya.
SHRI SHANKHESHVAR PARSHVANATH : (TIRTH)
Shri Shankheshvar Parshvanth tirth is one of the most popular and a pious pilgrims of jain community. It is a very important pilgrim place situated in Mehasana District. The main idol is that of shri Shankheshvai Parshvanath bhagvan. It is very huge and gracious. This temple is about 1000 years old.
80