Jainism in Bihar

Author(s): P C Roy Choudhary
Publisher: P C Roy Choudhary Patna

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Had there been any damage to the figure, it could not have been dedicated. There is also a remarkable Manstambha in the same compund. Manstambhas are rare in Bihar.
Among the other modern Jain temples mention may be made of the Jala Mandir, Nandiswar Dwip Mandir, Sahasrakuta Chaityalaya, Sri Adinath Mandir, Panchayati Jain Mandir and Chaubisi Jain Mandir. The Jala Mandir has been built with Pawapuri as the model. In Nandiswar Dwip Mandir there are 52 small Chaityalayas. In Sahasrakuta Chaityalaya within the Adinath temple in Dhanpura 1,000 Jain Arhat images stand carved. The execution is delicate and inspiring. In Panchayati Jain Mandir one will find 1,000 Jain images executed on one stone piece. At Chaubisi Jain Mandir there are all the 24 images of Tirthankars of similar colour as mentioned in Jain Agam.
Out of the several Jain cultural institutions in Arrah town a brief mention may be made of two of them, namely, Shri Jain Siddhanta Bhawan and Sri Jain Bala Visrama.
The Jain Siddhanta Bhawan was established by the late Sri Deva Kumarji in 1905. Sri Deva Kumar had a passion for collecting old manuscripts, paintings and other Jain relics, which were fast decaying or being acquired by the Europeans. In his wide tours throughout India he went on collecting old manuscripts, palm-leaf Pothis (manuscripts), paintings, etc. and spent a fortune over it. The superb collection is now housed in a costly building in the heart of the town and it is a standing monument to the great service done by the founder to the cause of Jainism. The library has now got more than 17,000 books and 8,000 manuscript books of Jain literature. There are 2,500 manuscript books on palm leaves. The collection also includes a number of rare coins, stamps and antique paintings. Some of the manuscripts are extremely rare and very valuable. Scholars from all parts of the world will find the collection a treasurehouse of Jain lore. It is managed by Sri Deva Kumar Jain
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