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The Siddhacakra and Namokāra Mantra : 89
Pūjā which uses the Siddhacakra, but was unable to find much information on is called the Arihanta pūjā. In this descrition from a jain website we hear of: “A lengthy temple ritual which can take three days to complete is the Arihanta pājā, paying respect to the arihants. There is a ritual of prayer focused on the Siddhacakra, a lotus-shaped disc bearing representations of the arhat, the liberated soul, religious teacher, religious leader and the monk (the five praiseworthy beings), as well as the four qualities namely perception, knowledge, conduct and austerity to uplift the soul.” 16 This Pūjā, of which I could not find information on elsewhere, sounds very reminiscent of a ritual Hemacandra describes in which one meditates on the Siddhacakra diagram while reciting om Namo Arihanāņaṁ, the first and most important line of the Namokāra mantra, one thousand and one hundred times, and that “one should meditate in this manner for eight days this eight lettered mystical mantra to remove all odds and obstacles."??? To differentiate whether one is performing the ritual for liberation or worldly desires one simply meditates without Om and with Om respectively. 18 This brings us to the last pūjā in which the Siddhacakra is directly involved which is the festival called Navapada Oli or Ayambila. The contemporary practice of this pūjā seems to be largely geared on the legend of King Sripāla and his Queen Mayanasundari. In this story the Queen cures her husband and seven hundred others with leprosy by asking the guru for help and receiving the Siddhacakra teaching along with its complementary Oli fast. The earliest available text of this legend comes from Ratnasekharsūri in 1372 C.E., but as seen before, the vow of worshipping the Siddhacakra and the Namokāra mantra for eight days while the Navpad Oli worship of the Siddhacakra lasts nine days. The Ayambila or Oli fast requires that one can only eat boiled grains once a day for food. A significant difference between this use of the Siddhacakra and its other uses is
