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this town, as a Tirth of Parshwanath. Dharmaghosh Suri had a temple built there. But he could not retain his influence for long. Soon afterwards the town became a centre of the Khartargachchha Padma-prabha, a powerful Chaitya-vasi saint of the town was defeated in religious discussions by Jin pati Suri of Khartargachchha held in the court of Prithviraj Chauhan at Narena in V. E. 1239. The temples built there during the Chauhan period were mostly demolished. On the basis of fragments of inscriptions dated V. E. 1221, we learn that a Chitrakuta-sila-patta100 was installed there. The Mulanayak icon of Parshwanath was demolished by Muhammad Ghori in 1178 A.D. It was later on repaired during the 15th century A. D. Hemraj Surana101 had to repair it again. The inscription engraved by him has been lost, but it has been edited by Vinay Sagar on the basis of a Ms. copy. The temple of Brahmani Mata here is also quite old. An inscription of the 10th century A. D. discovered from this town was edited by Shri Nahta.
Merta :
Merta is called Medantakpur in early inscriptions. Most of its early temples have been demolished. Some early inscribed Digambar Jain icons have been found here. The name of Abhayadeva Suri, is associated with this place. He had converted several families to Shvetambar Jainism. It seems that it was a centre of both the Digambars and the Shvetambars. Rao Jodha granted this town in Jagir to his son Duda. His descendants later on became known as the Medatiyas The famous Mira bai belonged to the Medatiya ruling family. During the 16th to the 18th centuries A.D. several Jain icons were installed in Merta.102
Two Pratistha Mahotsavas were held in VE 1677 and 1686, wherein a good number of icons were consecrated by the Acharyas of Tapagachchha, Ashakaran Chopara was an ardent follower of Kharatargachchha, who also consecrated several icons there.
100. Jin Vijay No. 444/Vinay Sagar No. 29 and 30. 101. Rajasthan Bharati Vol. IX No. 4 pp. 19-42 102. Vinay Sagar No. 1126 to 1155/Jin Vijay No. 434, 435, 436, 438 to 442.
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