Why Jainism

Author(s): Kurt Tietze
Publisher: Ratnaraya Education and Research Institute

Page 8

Jina images, and, of course, the unforgettable view of Bahubali on top of Vindhyagiri with the picturesque Kalyani Tank and the peaceful township of Shravanabelgola down below.
Reluctantly I left Shravanabelgola, taking the slowest bus there was. Ingrained in my mind I took with me the image of the face and nude torso of Bahubali as well as a few new words, new for me: Jina, Digambara, Tirthankara, Rishabha, Mahavira, Ahimsa, Jiva... My pilgrimage, undertaken in a year of worldly upheaval, was bearing fruit.
So it all began. But it wasn't until twenty years later that we, my wife and myself, decided to deviate from the customary tourist's way of seeing India (today a tour of Delhi, tomorrow Agra with the Taj Mahal, next day on to Jaipur for an old fort, a palace and a collection of deadly weapons and so on) and to embark upon an exclusive pilgrimage to sacredcentres of Jainism. Our venture turned out to be a revelation. On our return to Germany we wrote a letter of thanks and appreciation which was accepted by H.H.