Jaina Granth Bhandars in Rajasthan

Author(s): Kasturchand Kasliwal
Publisher: Digambar Jain Atishay Kshetra Mandir

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haina Grantha Bhandars in Rajasthan.
kinds of education to the students at their residence. Students were not taught only religious books but other subjects also such as Grammer, Ayurveda, Jyotisa and Mathematics etc.
We find a Jaina temple even where there are only a few families and in every temple there is a Grantha Bhandar attached to it having a small or large number of manuscripts. This shows that not only in the past but even today the temples are the centres of intellectual activities. This condition is specially applicable to the Laina temples of Rajasthăn. The Grantha Bhandārs of Nāgaur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Alwar, Bharatpur, Jaipur Ajmer, Tonk, Udaipui, Dungarpur. Kota, Būnds, Kāma, Deeg etc. are situated in temples only
MATERIAL USED FOR MANUSCRIPTS
Manuscripts which are housed in the Grantha Bhandars are of vanous finds in the VRIHAD KALPA SOTRA five kinds of books are described.
गन्डीपुस्तक, कच्छपीपुम्नक मुष्टिपुस्तक मम्पुटफल क.. छेदपाटीपूस्तकश्वेति पुग्नका ।
These five kinds of books are mainly those which are written on pain leaves Now we shall consider the various kinds of material on which manuscripts were written Some of them which are found frequent in the Girantha Bhandārs are as follows:
Manuscripts written on Palm Leaves Manuscripts written on Bhopatra Manuscripts written on Cloth Manuscript written on Paper Manuscripts wiitten on Paper Manuscripts written on Copper Places
MANUSCRIPTS ON PALM LEAVES
When the system of reducing the sacred texts into writing was adopted, palm leaves were used for writing Before 13th Century, the paper industry was neither developed adequately nor was it considered proper to write the manuscripts on paper. The oldest dated manuscript found m one of the Grantha Bhandārs of Jaisalmer is of 11th Century and is written on palm leaves. This is a manuscript of OGHA NIRYUKTI VRITTI of Sariivat 1117 i e. 1060 A D. There is a description