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RELIGION & CULTURE OF THE JAINS
times, though with their scope and sphere substantially limited. Even in modern times, there has generally been a pāthaśālā attached to a temple in places where the Jainas reside in sufficient numbers. The practice of svādhyāya or study of scriptures, in the temple or upāśraya, as a daily duty, has also helped in educating the Jaina laity and in properly maintaining the śāstra-bhandāras (religious libraries) attached to these places of worship.
At present, various educational institutions of the modern type, run and maintained by the Jaina community in different parts of the county, are not inconsiderable in number. They include nontessory, kindergarten, primary, junior and higher secondary schools, intermediate, degree and post-graduate colleges, technical and research institutes, special chairs in certain universities, libraries and reading rooms, hostels and boarding houses, examining bodies and various scholarship foundations.
The Jainas, thus, have contributed, and are still contributing, their bit towards the preservation of their literary and cultural heritage, the growth of new literature, the diffusion of learning, and the propagation of education in general.
