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ANTARIKSHA PARSVANATH CASE
191
In the temple at Shirpur there is an ancient idol, "Shri Antariksha Parasnathji Maharaj." believed by the Swetambaris to be self-existent. The deity is held in deep veneration by them, also by the Digambaris. It has apparently been a subject of controversy time out of mind whether it is a Swetambari or a Digambari idol, and whether as originally existent it was covered at the waist by a tie or band carved out of the stone or sand of which it is composed as the Swetambaris assert or whether, it being apparently agreed that the private parts are not visible to the worshipper, this resulted not from any tie or band or other physical covering but from the actual posture of the idol itself, as is the contention of the Digambaris. The Swetambaris had been used from time to time to plaster the idol's body as a result of which that which was alleged by them to be a self-existent waist band had in the Digambari view been produced and the immediate occasion of the suit was that on the 13th February, 1908, the defendants 1 to 7, with other Digambaris acting in the interests of that sect, chiselled, as the plaintiffs alleged, by means of iron instruments, the alleged self-existent tie and waistband from the body of the idol and removed the plaster and erased the lines on its hands and ears, outraging thereby the religious feelings of the Swetambaris. For all this the plaintiffs claimed Rs. 15,003 as damages. But the scope of the suit was not limited to that claim. It became the medium for vindicating Swetambari pretensions ranging far beyond its immediate occasion. By their plaint the plaintiffs asserted that the property in and right of management of the entire temple was and always had been exclusively in the Swetambaris. On that footing they claimed substantive relief against the defendants as representing the Digambaris. And the defendants were not slow to take up the challenge so thrown down, for although from time to time objecting to the regularity of the suit during its progress in India, they joined, without regret apparently, in this prolonged conflict, which, after nearly 23 years of litigation in India, has at length been brought before His Majesty in Council for final adjudication.
The Swetambari case as put forward by them can be Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
