Image veneration, festivals and pilgrimages

In Jainism, an ancient Indian religion, a Tirthankara, also known as a Jina (victor), is a “savior who has succeeded in crossing over life’s river of rebirth and has made a path for others to follow”.

Tirthankaras were much venerated, and worshipping them became part of the Jain tradition. Numerous images of Tirthankaras in the sitting and standing postures have been uncovered in excavations of a Jainfunerary monument at Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, India. The earliest images of Tirthankaras are all nude and distinguished by carved inscriptions of their names on the pedestals.

The practice of associating one of the 24 shasanadevatas (doctrine goddesses) with images of individual Tirthankaras began in the ninth century. Some of these goddesses continue to be of great importance to Jain devotees. The images are generally located near the entrance to Jain temples and can be consulted for assistance in worldly matters.

The focus for most image-venerating Jains ( murtipujaka) is the icon of the Tirthankara located in the central shrine room of the temple or in a domestic shrine. Temples also house subsidiary Tirthankara images.

Daily worship includes hymns of praise and prayers; the recitation of sacred formulas and the names of the Tirthankaras; idol veneration; the bathing of the image; and offerings of flowers, fruit, and rice. Shvetambaras Jains also decorate images with clothes and ornaments.

Important days in the Jain calendar are called parvan. On these days, religious observances, such as periods of fasting and festivals, take place. The principal Jain festivals can generally be connected with the five major events in the life of each Tirthankara: descent into his mother’s womb, birth, renunciation, attainment of omniscience, and final emancipation.

The calendar includes many festivals such as the Shvetambara fasting ceremony, Oli, which is celebrated for nine days twice a year (in March-April and September-October) and which corresponds to the mythical celestial worship of the images of the Tirthankaras. The most significant festival occurs from late July to early November when monks and nuns abandon their wandering lives and live among the laity.

For Shvetambaras Jains, the single most important festival, Paryushana, occurs in the month of Bhadrapada (August-September). On its last day, Samvatsari (annual) alms are distributed to the poor and a Jina image is ceremonially paraded through the streets. A communal confession is performed by the laity, and letters are sent asking for forgiveness and the removal of all ill feelings about conscious or unconscious misdeeds during the past year.

The equivalent Digambara festival is called Dashalakshanaparvan (Observance Day of the 10 Religious Qualities) and centres on the public display of an important text, the Tattvartha-sutra.

Jnanapanchami

Another important Shvetambara ceremony, Jnanapanchami, occurs five days later and is celebrated with temple worship and reverence of the scriptures. The equivalent Digambara festival takes place in May-June.

Mahavira Jayanti, the birthday of Mahavira, the last Tirthankara to appear, is celebrated by both sects in early April with public processions. On the full-moon day of the month of Karttika (October-November), Jains commemorate nirvana, the final liberation of Mahavira, by lighting lamps.

The most famous of all Jain festivals, Mastakabhisheka (head anointment), is staged every 12 years at the Digambara sacred complex at Shravanabelagola in Karnataka state (India). In this ceremony, the 57-foot-high statue of Bahubali is anointed from above with a variety of substances in the presence of thousands of people.

Pilgrimages are viewed as meritorious activities and are popular among nuns, monks, and laity alike. Places of pilgrimage were created during the medieval period at sites marking the principal events in the lives of Tirthankaras, some of which were destroyed during the Muslim invasions, which started in the eighth century.

Parasnath Hill and Rajgir in Bihar state, India, and Shatrunjaya and Girnar hills on the Kathiawar Peninsula are among such important ancient pilgrimage sites. Other shrines that have become pilgrimage destinations are Shravanabelagola in Karnataka state, mounts Abu and Kesariaji in Rajasthan state, and Antariksha Parshvanatha in the Akola district of Maharashtra.

For Jains who are unable to go on pilgrimages to the most famous sites, their depictions are worshipped in local temples.

familyandreligion@gleanerjm.com