ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 01

Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 238

SCHOOL
Let us briefly review each:
Siddha Kṣetra
OF
परमे
NN STUDIES
SELF STUDY IS THE SUPREME AUSTERITY
स्वाध्याय
Pilgrimage provides us the opportunity to devote full time for spiritual purposes and hence enables us to advance in our path of spiritual purification.
Broadly, a tirtha can be of any one of the four categories:
Place of attaining emancipation, Nirvana - Siddha-ksetra
Place where some divine or other religious event happened- Atiśaya-ksetra.
Place where any of the five auspicious events of tirthamkaras took place- Kalyāṇaka ksetra.
Place of art/ architecture- Kala-kṣetra.
STUDY NOTES version 5.0
There is very limited number of such places in India. Sammetashikhara or Paras Natha in the state of Jharkhanda is the place from where twenty out of twenty four tīrthamkaras have attained Nirvana. Thus it is the holiest one and is frequented by almost all Jains at least once in their lifetime. Then there are Pavapuri (Mahāvīra), Campapuri (Vāsapūjya) in Bihār, Giranar (Neminātha) in Gujrat and Mount Kailash (now in Tibet) for Adinatha that belong to this class. There are other places identified also where other omniscient attained Nirvāṇa (mostly in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarata, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh).
Kalyāṇaka Kṣetra
There is a limited number of such places again. Ayodhya with maximum number of kalyanakas (first five tirthamkaras), Hastinapura with four kalyanakas of three firthamkaras, both in UP and Palitana in Gujrat are important places. There are many others such places primarily in UP, Bihara, Madhya Pradesh and nearby states.
Atisaya Kṣetra
Almost all other tirthas numbering approximately 200 fall in this category. They are spread throughout the country. Due to some auspicious event happened earlier, people start believing in divine powers in such places and visit them primarily to have their worldly needs fulfilled. Sri Mahāvīraji and Tijara in Rajasthana are most visited ones. They are mostly in Rajasthana, Maharashtra, Gujrat, Bihara and Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
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