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The states with the largest population of Jains are given in the table below.
State
CA NJ NY IL TX MI MA PA
Families with last name Jain
431 184 189 107 128 68
All Families listed in Jain Directory (197)
979 1.009 690 504 313 418 291 295
Estimated population
15,140 10,276 8,321 5,442 4,640 4,089 3,536 3,316
81 69
T
Is there an American Jainism?
The Jains in North America are strongly attached to their families, relatives and friends back in India. With telephone and now Internet, we can be connected to India on a daily basis. One interesting question is: Is there a distinctive American Jainism?
While there are many sects and movements in Jainism, all of them use the same fundamental principles. There are several languages used by Jains in India, and the rituals vary from region to region, from Punjab to Tamilnadu. But unlike Buddhism, Jainism has remained unchanged in its basic philosophy.
Visitors from India and even UK have observed that Jainism in America has some unique characteristics. There are some interesting observations by Vinod Kapashi in his book "Pardesma Jain-Dharma (Jainism Overseas)" (Gujarati, 1988). He observes, "This is good that among them (American Jains) the deravasi-sthanakvasi, svetambar-digambar differences are of little significance." Kapashi mentions that in Britain there are two organizations, belonging to Oswals and the Navanat -Vanikas; and in contrast, in America the Jains regard each other to be simply followers of Lord Mahavira, without following the nat" tradition. This unity among the Jains is a significant difference. Practically all of the Jain temples in North America are open to all sects. It is traditionally common to have inscriptions at the pedestal of the Lord Jina mentioning details including the order to which the supervising Acharya belongs. The inscriptions at Siddhachalam mention no such sectarian divisions.
"The Western Order of Jainism" by Dr. Natubhai Shah of London and "Jains and Their Religion in America: A Social Survey" by Dr. Bhuvannendra Kumar discuss the unique aspects of Jainism in the West and in North America respectively.
Dr. Rajib Doogar writes:
Yes, there *is* an American Jainism. The relatively non-sectarian responses among American Jains leads to a stronger sense of identity as Jains and a weaker "communal" affiliation to linguistic and ethnic groups -- which again is a modernization and rejuvenating process. Thus in some ways, Jains in America may
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