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BHAKTI IN JAIN TRADITION : 57
With the growth of temple building all over India there grew a spirit of visiting them as places of pilgrimages specially those places where Tīrthankaras have attended the auspicious events of their life. Visiting these places became a part of the religious affair. Therefore Lonkā in his bola- 39 has argued that in adhi-dvīpa (2 and ', continents and oceans according to Jain cosmology) there is not a single place from where liberation has not taken place. Hence whole adhi-dvipa is a tirtha. Further, Lonkā mentions that the popular places like Shatrunjaya, Girnar, Aștāpada are not mentioned in the scriptures as the tīrthas. He also mentions that Mahāvīra has established the four-fold Jain community, that is, sādhus, sādhvi, śrāvaka and śrāvikā, as the tīrthas which confirms the definition of tīrtha and not the places. So where it is mentioned that any geographical place should be regarded as tīrtha? Further Lonkā in his bola - 53 which he quotes from the Jñātādharmakathānga (5th Adhyāya) says that the real pilgrimage is to walk on the path of knowledge, faith, conduct, austerities and restraint.
He even argues that the word 'caitya' dose not means image or a temple but it means knowledge. Therefore ‘caityārthe' means for the sake of spiritual knowledge and conduct, that is equal to “jñānārtha' and for the sake of shedding of the karmas, that is, ‘nirjarārthe'.
He points out that there is no unanimity among those who follow idol-worship on many points, 1) whether the image should be nude or with clothes, 2) whether the image should be consecrated by laity or by monks, 3) what should be the posture of the image, 4) at what time of the day should the image be worshipped , of what material should the image be made of- stone, metal, wax etc, 5) since all the 24 Tīrthankaras are equal which of them should be consecrated in the center, 6)what should be the height of the image, 6) does the image possess the qualities of knowledge, conduct, faith , austerities
