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SVASTI -Essays in Honour of Prof. Hampa Nagarajaiah
other ascetic practices such as updhan, the one year of fasting" (varshi tap), or one month of a complete fasting (mahashkaman). Interestingly, the prospect of extreme physical hardships does not frighten off those youngsters, who decide to take a two months leave of their worldly commitments in their comfortable urban residences in order to impose a rigorous ascetic practice on themselves. According to one of the officers of the Anandji Kalyanji Pedhi, an average of about 3000 lay pilgrims perform navanu every year. * At least 50% of them are lay women between 40 and 65, and about a half of these women are attended by their husbands. Typically these navanu pilgrims put their grown up married sons and their daughters-in-law in charge of their personal affairs back home. Usually these elderly women claim that they were intending to perform navanu since a long time, but were not able to accomplish their plans previously. Married women and men below the age of 40, who have unmarried or small children, very rarely perform navanu, as their daily business and household affairs does not allow them an absence of two months. However, according to my estimation about 15 % of the navanu groups, i.e. annually about 450 people, are under the age of thirty and unmarried. Out of these, about one third are diksharthis or candidates for the ascetic initiation. In this group girls are, in the clear majority, reflecting the fact that about two third of Shvetambara ascetics are women. The dikshartis, women and men alike, perform navanu mainly in order to prepare themselves for the ascetic wanderings. The rest of the unmarried navanu participants below the age of 30 are almost exclusively women. They often perform navanu because they are told to do so by elder relatives, who want to prepare them for their religious duties as wives and mothers. Some of them, however, have chosen navanu on their own initiative or have been convinced by a friend to accompany her during the 99 fold pilgrimage. Despite these diverse social motivations all pilgrims agree that navanu is performed in remembrance and as a humble emulation of Adinath's 99 purva pilgrimages to the eternal mountain Shatrunjaya. According to various myths and legends (which are repeated in the various pilgrim's almanacs and retold by many pilgrims) Adinath himself once established the pilgrimage to Shatrunjaya. Therefore, the holy mountain is particularly important in connection with the life of the first fordmaker, Adinath or Rshabha. As commonly known, Adinath (,,the first Lord“) generally plays the vital
For an elaboration of this penance see Cort 2001: 105 and 137 and Luithle-Hardenberg (in print). For an elaboration of this penance see Cort 2001: 137-138 and Luithle-Hardenberg (in print).
7 ibid.
During my fieldwork I got notice of nine larger navanu groups, five in the winter season of 2001/2002 (about 3000 participants) and four in 2002/2003 (about 1500 participants).
The measurement purva is equal to the multiplication of 8,400,000 by 8,400,000, which is again equal to a number with 14 digits. 10 When being asked for textual sources the pilgrims usually refer to the Shatrunjaya Mahatmyam or Shatrunjaya Laghu Kalpa irrespective of their own actual knowledge of the text. However, these legends are explicitly mentioned by Hemacandra only (Johnson 1931: 354-357).
