Jain Temples and Pilgrimage: Shatrunjaya to Shravanabelagola

Jain temples are houses for the images of the Tirthankaras, the liberated teachers whom Jains venerate, and Jain pilgrimage (tirtha yatra) takes believers to the places where those teachers were born, renounced the world, attained omniscience or reached final liberation. The most sacred sites include the temple-covered mountain of Shatrunjaya in Gujarat, Girnar, Sammed Shikhar in Jharkhand and Pavapuri in Bihar, while the marble temples of Mount Abu and Ranakpur and the colossal statue of Bahubali at Shravanabelagola are among the masterpieces of Indian art.

The Meaning of Jain Temple Worship§

A Jain temple is called a mandir, jinalaya ("abode of the Jina"), derasar in Gujarat or basadi in Karnataka. Its focus is the principal image (mulnayak), usually of one of the twenty-four Tirthankaras described in Mahavira and the 24 Tirthankaras, seated in meditation or standing in the posture of "abandoning the body." Because the Tirthankaras are liberated and do not intervene in the world, Jain theologians describe worship as a discipline of the worshipper's own mind: by honouring perfected beings, the devotee reflects on their qualities and generates the purity that sheds karma. Scholars such as Lawrence Babb have explored the paradox of this "absent lord" — a God-like figure who cannot respond — and how lay Jains nonetheless experience their temple worship as powerful and transformative.

Not all Jains worship images. As explained in Digambara and Shvetambara Jainism, the Sthanakavasi and Terapanthi branches of the Shvetambaras reject image worship and gather in plain halls for teaching, meditation and the company of ascetics.

Puja and Daily Ritual§

Image-worshipping Jains visit the temple, ideally every morning, for darshan, the auspicious sight of the Jina. The fullest daily rite among Shvetambara Murtipujakas is the ashtaprakari puja, the "eightfold worship," in which the worshipper, after bathing and putting on clean clothes, offers water, sandalwood paste, flowers, incense, a lamp, unbroken rice, sweets and fruit. The rice is often arranged on a small table into a swastika, three dots and a crescent: the swastika stands for the four destinies of rebirth, the three dots for the three jewels of right faith, knowledge and conduct, and the crescent with a dot above for the abode of liberated souls, as described in Jain Cosmology. Worshippers may cover their mouths with a cloth while touching the image, in keeping with the care for life described in Ahimsa and the Jain Vows.

Temples also hold larger ceremonies. The snatra puja re-enacts the bathing of the newborn Tirthankara on Mount Meru by the gods, with worshippers taking the roles of Indra and the deities. Digambara communities perform abhisheka, the lustration of images with water and other substances. Different Digambara groups disagree over whether fresh flowers and fruit may be offered, since they contain life. Temples are usually built and maintained by lay trusts, and the auctioning of the right to perform particular rituals is a long-standing means of raising funds.

Temple Architecture and Sacred Art§

The earliest Jain sacred sites include rock-cut caves at Udayagiri and Khandagiri in Odisha, associated with King Kharavela around the first century BCE, and the stupa and sculptures of Kankali Tila at Mathura from the first centuries CE. Jain caves at Ellora (caves 30–34, around the ninth century), with their richly carved "Indra Sabha," stand beside Hindu and Buddhist caves. In central India the Jain temples of Khajuraho date from the tenth and eleventh centuries.

In western India, Jain merchants and ministers built temples of white marble in the Maru-Gurjara style. Their intricacy is unmatched:

• The Dilwara temples at Mount Abu, Rajasthan. The Vimala Vasahi, dedicated to Rishabha, was built in 1031 by Vimala Shah, a minister of the Chaulukya king Bhima I; the Luna Vasahi, dedicated to Neminatha, was built in 1230 by the brothers Vastupala and Tejapala. Their ceilings and domes are carved with almost lace-like detail.
• Ranakpur, Rajasthan. The four-faced (chaumukha) temple of Adinatha was begun in the fifteenth century by the merchant Dharana Shah under the patronage of Rana Kumbha of Mewar; tradition says it has 1,444 carved pillars, no two alike.

In the south, Digambara basadis follow Dravidian forms, often fronted by a tall pillar (manastambha). Moodabidri in coastal Karnataka, sometimes called the "Kashi of the Jains," has the Saavira Kambada Basadi or "thousand-pillared temple" of the fifteenth century and preserves important palm-leaf manuscripts. Jain temple libraries (bhandars), such as those at Patan and Jaisalmer, safeguarded thousands of manuscripts, many of them richly illustrated.

The Great Jain Pilgrimage Sites§

Pilgrimage sites, called tirthas like the Tirthankaras themselves, are especially associated with the places where Tirthankaras attained liberation (nirvana-bhumi).

Shatrunjaya and Girnar§

Shatrunjaya hill above Palitana in Gujarat is the holiest site for Shvetambaras, associated with Rishabha, who is said to have preached there. Its twin summits carry several hundred temples, with counts ranging from about 800 to over 900, reached by a climb of more than three thousand steps. By custom no one, not even the priests, remains on the mountain overnight, for it is held to belong to the gods. Mount Girnar near Junagadh, the place of Neminatha's liberation, is sacred to both Jains and Hindus.

Sammed Shikhar and Pavapuri§

Sammed Shikhar, on Parasnath Hill in Jharkhand, is the holiest site for Digambaras and is revered by Shvetambaras too, because twenty of the twenty-four Tirthankaras of this age, including Parshva, are believed to have attained liberation there. Pilgrims walk a circuit of roughly twenty-seven kilometres to visit shrines marking each Tirthankara's liberation. In late 2022 and early 2023 a proposal to promote the area for tourism prompted nationwide Jain protests, and the plans were halted. Pavapuri in Bihar, where Mahavira attained liberation, has the Jal Mandir, a white temple standing in a lotus pond. Mount Ashtapada, where Rishabha attained liberation, is traditionally identified with a Himalayan peak.

Shravanabelagola§

Shravanabelagola in Karnataka, associated in Digambara tradition with the teacher Bhadrabahu and the emperor Chandragupta Maurya, is famous for the monolithic statue of Bahubali (Gommateshvara), son of Rishabha, carved from the granite of Vindhyagiri hill around 981–983 at the command of Chavundaraya, a minister of the Western Ganga kings. About 17 metres (57 feet) high, the figure stands in such deep meditation that vines climb his limbs. Roughly every twelve years the Mahamastakabhisheka festival bathes the statue with water, milk, sugarcane juice, saffron and flowers poured from a scaffold, drawing hundreds of thousands of pilgrims; the most recent took place in 2018.

Pilgrimage as Religious Practice§

Jain pilgrimage is traditionally undertaken in groups (sangh), often sponsored by a wealthy lay patron, the sanghapati, who earns great merit and prestige by funding the journey. On the most rigorous pilgrimages, participants walk the whole way, eat once a day, sleep on the ground, observe celibacy and perform daily rites of repentance, imitating for a time the life of ascetics. Pilgrims climb holy mountains barefoot, fast and recite hymns and the Namokar mantra. Many pilgrimages are timed to coincide with festivals or with the end of the monsoon retreat of the ascetics. John Cort, Lawrence Babb and James Laidlaw have shown how temple building, worship and pilgrimage bind together ascetic ideals, merchant wealth and community identity in Jain society.

Jain temples now also exist across the diaspora, in Leicester and London, Antwerp, Nairobi and Mombasa, and across North America, where they often serve both Digambara and Shvetambara families under one roof. For an overview of the religion as a whole, see What Is Jainism?.

Frequently asked questions§

Why do Jains worship in temples if the Tirthankaras cannot help them?§

Jains understand temple worship as a way of honouring the qualities of the liberated Tirthankaras and purifying their own minds, which sheds karma. The benefit comes from the worshipper's devotion and inner transformation, not from any action by the Tirthankara.

What is the holiest Jain pilgrimage site?§

Shatrunjaya at Palitana in Gujarat is generally regarded as the holiest site by Shvetambaras, and Sammed Shikhar in Jharkhand by Digambaras, though both traditions revere both mountains.

What is the Mahamastakabhisheka?§

It is the festival, held about every twelve years at Shravanabelagola in Karnataka, in which the colossal statue of Bahubali is ritually bathed with water, milk, saffron and other substances. It draws pilgrims and visitors from across India and abroad.

Sources and further reading§

• Absent Lord: Ascetics and Kings in a Jain Ritual Culture — Lawrence A. Babb, 1996
• Jains in the World: Religious Values and Ideology in India — John E. Cort, 2001
• Riches and Renunciation: Religion, Economy, and Society among the Jains — James Laidlaw, 1995
• The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India — Pratapaditya Pal, 1994
• Jaina Iconography — Jyotindra Jain & Eberhard Fischer, 1978