Jain System in Nutshell

Author(s): N L Jain
Publisher: Nij Gyan Sagar Shiksha Kosh Santa MP

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(21) religious value, they have psychological and physical benefits also including strengthening the faith and brotherhood.
The second category of holy places have their origin either (a) due to their being places of birth, initiation and self-realisation of Victors or those who got salvation later or (b) due to some specific type of impressive or supernatural occurrences there. This category may also have artistic value. Among such places, mention may be made of Varanasi, Rajgir, Ayodhya, Sharavanvelgola, Bavangaja, Khajuraho, Mahavirji and others. They are normally in plains, still they are associated with devotional religious sentiments.
The third type of holy places are the art and architectural places which have been mentioned earlier. Their importance is dual-artistic and religious because of fine victors idols in temples. Mt. Abu, Ranakpur, Khajuraho, Mathura. Khandgiri etc. fall under this category.
The holy places of Jainas are scattered throughout India. They represent the livingness of the culture. They also indicate the strength of the culture.
Rituals and Festivals of the Jainas
The psychologists have studied the mental process of mankind. They have found perchance rituals precede religious systens. Rituals are instruments of socialisation, social and political impression, paychology of direction or transformation and symbolisation of inner desires of man. They are sacred prescriptions for the physical wellbeing and increment of religiosity. They are part and parcel of every religion in the world. To term them as superstition is to show ignorance. They are devotional (worship, prayer, chanting incantations, hymns etc.) and ceremonial (consecration of altars and idols, watering of idols, charioteering, sacred birthdays and anniversaries of great personnages etc.). Their other forms may be Purificatory, expiatory and oblationary. These form the eighth limb of right faith for the Jainas. These lead one from the outer to the inner world. Their effect seems to be indirect. It is the general opinion of the sociologists that rituals cannot be seperated from religion whatever the intelligensia may
feel. 16.
How the Jainas could lag behind in this sociological and moral aspect of religion? They lead a rich and varied cultural life because of their rituals and festivals in comparision to other systems. The individualised rituals of past have also now been socialised. Under the devotional ritu they have different types of worships, eightfold physical or paychical worship of Jina idol, sacred bathing worship, prayers and practices of equanimity, ceremonising scriptural sermons and the like. Under the ceremonial category, they have some costly rituals too. The consecration