Jain Spirit 2002 03 No 10

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 53

HISTORY
EVERY PILGRIM
Sobhag Shah reviews a book by Kurt Titze, which provides a useful travelogue of historic Jain places
52
Hutheesingh Temple, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India (whose patron was the eminent businessman Sheth Hutheesingh}. The temple complex has 52 Jinalaya and 52 small shrines
Jain Spirit March May 2002
Jain Education International 2010 03
D
ESPITE INDIA'S ARTISTIC heritage, the quality and quantity of information in English about its sacred places are limited, especially in Jainism. As a keen tourist, I have often struggled to gather this information and discover the history of ancient places. This is why it was most refreshing to see Jainism: A Pictorial Guide to the Religion of Non-violence by Kurt Titze published by the famous Jain publishers Motilal Banarsidass.
The book is the first pictorial guide in English with 350 illustrations spreading over 260 pages. It is compiled carefully from the different regions of India, with accompanying maps showing the exact locations. Although the descriptions are brief, it will serve as a good guide for the younger generation and foreign visitors embarking on the various pilgrimages in India. The primary aim of a Jain pilgrimage is spiritual upliftment. It helps the aspirant in crossing over the ocean of Samsara (life) full of pain and misery and in attaining liberation from an unending round of births and deaths. A visit to sacred places is considered meritorious and spiritually purifying. Most Jain temples are situated on hills and mountains, which generate sanctity to these sites and provide meditative calmness and peaceful serenity. These mountain sanctuaries represent some of the most wonderful monuments of architecture and sculpture ever crafted by the human spirit. It is extremely creditable for a freelance foreign writer