________________
362
SVASTI - Essays in Honour of Prof. Hampa Nagarajaiah
local lay community. During the two months28 sojourn time in Palitana all navanu participants stay in one of the 83 pilgrim hostels. Generally, the sponsor of a navanu pilgrimage prefers to book a hostel which is run by a trust of his own local community. This preference corresponds with a general practice that regardless of the actual — mostly urban - place of residence, every pilgrim favors a hostel, which is linked to his or her family by regional affiliation and which is particularly defined by the family's place of origin (mul vatan) and sometimes even limited to a certain local
caste.31
However, if the hostels which comply with these preconditions cannot host all navanu pilgrims of his group, a sangha pati might also choose a bigger hostel associated with a different local community. At any rate the pilgrim hostel of a navanu group functions as an independent unit: In the assembly hall, the pilgrims listen to lectures given by ascetic preceptors and regularly elaborated pujas are performed here. In larger groups the pilgrims might also gather for the sermons in the inner yard, where for that purpose huge canopies are installed. At the same place each morning and evening the male lay pilgrims collectively perform pratikraman with the male ascetics, while the lay women join the female ascetics in their quarters for the same purpose. In the eating hall, all lay pilgrims eat together according to the strict Jaina dietary rules. Some days before the end of the rainy season the lay people of a navanu group usually take a private car or bus from their urban residences in order to reach their hostel in Palitana. Traditionally, all pilgrims of a navanu group jointly commence with the first of the 108 pilgrimages on the early morning of the full moon day of the month of Kartik (October/November), which is called "Kartika Punam” in Gujarati. »? That day marks the end of the rainy season (comasul caturmas), during which the ascetics discontinue their itineraries and stay at one place in order to prevent the hurting of the abundantly thriving flora and fauna. For the same reason, ascetics and devoted lay people do not perform the pilgrimage to the top of Shatrunjaya hill during this season.
28 Sometimes particular navanu pilgrims, mostly elderly couples, who have plenty of time, but cannot complete more than one pilgrimage a day, do not join a larger navanu group, but continue their 108 pilgrimages over an extended period or even years. 29 In 2003 in Palitana I counted 102 pilgrim hostels; fourteen were closed (either under renovation or run down) and five were still under construction. Most of the pilgrim hostels are located alongside the Taleti Road at the southern end of town, literally meaning ,,foot road“ as it connects the old city and bazaar area with the northern foot of the mountain. 30 For almost all hostels, the affiliation with a region or place of origin was obvious, even if it was not mentioned in their names. In interviews, their managers referred explicitly to a place or region in Gujarat (41), or in Rajasthan (31), Punjab (2), and Maharashtra (1), respectively. 31 For details see Luithle-Hardenberg (in print). In particular, the older hostels built before independence explicitly stress their pilgrims' affiliation with a certain region and local caste. For Jaina castes in Gujarat, see Cort (2004). 32 Sometimes a navanu group might start one month after Kartika Punam, on Magsar Punam. This is the case when the Acarya who is in charge of that particular navanu group has previously led a group of lay people to perform another kind of austerity, such as updhan, which also starts immediately after the rainy season and is also performed frequently in Palitana as an extension of the rainy season quarters.
