Jaina Granth Bhandars in Rajasthan

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

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Jaina Grantha Bhandars in Rajasthan.
The Grantha Bhandar is in good condition and systematically arranged. The manuscript are placed in the Vesthanas. One rough catalogue of the manuscripts is also available in the Sastra Bhandar. There is no rare manuscript.
(20) GRANTHA BHANDARS OF ALWAR
Alwar was the Matsya Deśa, the kingdom of Raja Virața of the Mahabharat m the past. There is still a town called Macheri in this State which is a corruption of Matsya. It is why that the first Union of Rajasthan States of Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur and Karauli was given the name of Matsya. The Alwar state formerly appertained to the territory of Jaipur, but in the 19th century it was recognised as a separate State and Pratapsingh was the first ruler. It is in the centre, between Jarpur and Delhi.
Alwar remained a centre of Jainas for a long time There are nine Jaina temples in the City, out of which following temples have the collection of the manuscripts The number of the manuscript in each temple is as follows:--
No. of Manuscripts
60
(1) Temple of Chajurämps
(2) Jaina temple of Sabji Sahib
(3) Bartalla Jaina temple
(4) Jain temple Nasian
(5) Naya Bazar Jaina temple
(6) Khandelwal Jana Pancayati Mandir
(7) Agarwal Pancayati Mandir
40
41
42
39
211
186
Thus the total number of the manuscripts is 619 in the seven Bhandārs of the City, Most of the manuscripts are in Samskrit and Hindi and were written in 18th and 19th century.
There are two manuscripts TATTWÄRTH SUTRA and BHAKTĀMARA STOTRA written in golden ink. There is also a manuscript namely AMRITASAGARA which was composed under the patronage of Mähäräja Pratapsingh. It is on Indian Medicines (Ayurveda) having 25 Tarangas and written in Hindi. Mahārājā Pratap Singh was the ruler of Jaipur State from the year 1778 to 1803. The manuscript was copied in the year 1791 A D.