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94
The Temples in Kumbhāriyā
(A.D. 1054) (Insc. 2 and 3), the first one even naming Sarvvadeva sūri as the pontiff who consecrated the image in the 'Jinagrha' (probably of Jina Rşabha) at Ārāsaņa. It is likely, though not positively certain, that the pontiffs of this gaccha may have been responsible in consecrating not only the Jina images implied to be inside the subsidiary shrines, but also perhaps the principal sanctuary; and its monks may have been the spiritual guides of the śrāvakas who may have been the adherents to that gaccha. The Nannācārya-gaccha apparently was an off-shoot of the 'caityavāsī' (i.e. abbatial) Ukeśa-gaccha (which took its name after 'Ukeśa', present day Osiāñ) and had come into existence probably in the tenth century. The next interesting notice relates to the 'Vatapāla-gaccha', reported from a single inscription (A.D. 1092, in Sāntinātha i.e., originally the Adinātha temple, Insc. 45) and plausibly took its name after Vatapura, which very probably is the present day village of Vasantagadh, also known in the medieval times as Vatapura, a village that lies some 35 miles to the northeast of Ābu Road. The third, and the more ancient than the preceding two, was the Thārāpadra (variantly Thirāpadra)-gaccha, which had emanated from the line of monks from the abbot Vateśvara (mentioned in Chapter 1) who had established his headquarters in the ancient town of Thārāpadra in north-eastern Gujarat in c. early eighth century. The two earliest inscriptions and of the same year in the Pārsvanātha temple (A.D. 1105, Insc. 49, 50) mention this 'gaccha'. It is possible that the monks of the Thārāpadra-gaccha ecclesiastically were associated either in the founding or consecration of this temple. The pedestal inscription (No. 4) of the cult image in the mūlaprāsāda of the Mahāvīra temple (A.D. 1062) refers to a pontiff (name gone) of “Rā...-gaccha' which may be read as "Rāja-gaccha', a famous medieval order of friars. However, in subsequent inscriptions within this or the other four Jaina temples, this gaccha is not for once mentioned again.
Turning to the Neminātha temple, it is known from the late medieval literary sources, earlier discussed (Chapter 5), that the illustrious Vādi Deva sūri of the Brhad-gaccha had officiated the consecration rites of this temple when founded by the tradesman Pāsila in c. A.D. 1135 or 1137. Now, it is clear from the predominance of the inscriptions involving the pontiffs of the Bșhad-gaccha* as priests consecrating images, devakulikās and other objects of worship within this temple that a large number of śrāvakas and the śrāvikās connected with the setting up of images etc., in this temple, predictably had their spiritual allegiance to the Bșhad-gaccha. The hagiographies of the different groups of friars of the Bșhad-gaccha related to differing decades are specified in the tables to follow. The exact relationships
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