________________
jubilation all around. The horse too was present at the steps of the Samavasaran. He remembered his past lives when he heard the words of the Lord. He was instantly enlightened and started neighing with blissful joy.
Bhagwan Muni Suvratji declared, "This horse is not an ordinary creature any more. He is a realized soul now. For he has attained Samyakatva, the right knowledge, today. In fact, he was a friend of mine in his previous birth". From that day onwards, Bhrugukatchha came to be known also as Ashwavbodh Tirth. Later on, the place acquired the name of Shakunika tirth. As the story goes, a hungry mother kite was in search of food to feed her young ones. At that time, the deadly arrow of a hunter killed her. But the mother kite was very fortunate in that she fell at the feet of some wandering Jain muni. The great muni took pity on her and recited the Navakar mantra at the time of her last breath. And the kite was saved on hearing the mantra.
The kite was born in her next birth as Sudarshana, a daughter of the king of Sinhal dwip. In this birth she again listened to the recitation of the Navkar mantra and remembered her past birth. She then began to lead a very pious life. She came to Bhrugupur. With the help of king Jitshatru and her god father Rushabhdatta Seth, she renovated the ancient temple of Ashwavbodh and built a magnificent seven-storied temple and gave it the name of Shakunika Vihar. Thus, a kite turned a princess, Sudarshana, built a magnificent temple where all could get their salvation at a place where she had got her own salvation.
We have a very beautiful idol of the Mul nayak, Shri Muni Suvrat Swamiji in this temple.
A minister named Ambad built this magnificent temple of wood at the expense of 32 lac Sonaiya i.e. gold coins. Kalikal Sarvagna Shri Hemchandracharya himself performed the consecration ceremony of the idol of the temple and king Kumarpal performed Arti or the ritual waving of small lamps before the idol at the end of the ceremony. A minister named Tejpal offered golden flags to the twentyfive Devkulikas of this temple. There are records that show that many other Jain temples were also built here. But muslim invaders destroyed nearly all of them and some of them were turned into mosques,
The original temple does not exist any more today. A new temple made of marble has been constructed on the site of the ancient one. But certain objects such as a well preserved pat painting and other wooden artefacts recovered from the ruins of the ancient temple have been with Shri Prafull Shah, a leading industrialist and business magnet of Surat at present. He has some beautifully carved wooden pillars, their wooden bases and large wooden pegs on both the sides of the door frame, in his collection.
56 : Jain Kashthapar Chitra
Jain Education Intemational
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
