Jainism in Gujarat

Author(s): Chimanlal Bhailal Sheth
Publisher: Godiji Jain Temple Mumbai

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INTRODUCTION.
A Very Brief Sketch of the Early History of Jainism in Gujarat.
Gujarat has been a stronghold of Jainism for centuries. In pre-historic times, Rishabhadeva and Neminatha, with their disciples, performed penance on the Satrunjaya and Giranara respectively. In the fifth century of the Christian era, a conference of the Jain monks was held at Valabhi in Saurastra and the canonical works of the Jains were reduced to writing. When Valabbi was selected for the conference, it meant that it was a place convenient to many learned Jain monks who do not use any vehicles.
In the same century, in Anandapura modern Vadanagara in the Mehsana District, there lived a king named Dhruvasena. A Jain monk named Dhanesvarasuri composed the Kalpasutra to console the king who had lost his son According to Udyotanasuri, author of the Kuvalayamālā, there were many Jain temples in Gujarata in the 6th and 7th centuries of the Christian era,
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