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RELIGION & CULTURE OF THE JAINS
"In a holy place with a god I walk... On a trail of beauty, with a god I walk." Places of Pilgrimage There are numerous places of Jaina pilgrimage, ancient monuments and sites, scattered all over the subcontinent of India. About a hundred years ago, an eminent archaeologist remarked that if you take a point any where in India and with it as centre draw a circle with a radius of twelve miles, you are sure to get one or more Jaina place of worship within that area. Another distinguished scholar and reputed historian. Vincent Smith, observed: "The field of exploration is vast. In olden days the creed of Mahāvīra was far more widely diffused than it is now. In the 7th century A.D., for instance, the creed had numerous followers in Vaiśālī (north of Patna) and in eastern Bengal, localities where its adherents are now extremely few. I have myself seen abundant evidences of the former prevalence of Jainism in Bundelkhand during the medieval period, especially in the 11th-12th centuries. Jaina images in the country are numerous in places where a Jaina is now never seen. Further south, in the Deccan and the Tamil countries, Jainism was, for centuries, a great and ruling power in regions where it is now almost unknown".
The places of Jaina pilgrimage, or the Jaina tirtha-kşetras, may broadly be grouped into four categories. The kalyāņaka-kşetras, associated with the birth and other memorable events in the life of the Tirtharkaras, the Siddha-kşetras, where the Tirthankaras or other saints attained nirvāņa; the Atiśaya-kşetras, associated with some miracle or myth; and Kalā-kşetras, reputed for their artistic monuments, temples and images. Many a time, more than one of these characteristics are present at one and the same site. The more important of these sacred Jaina places are enumerated below.
