Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
plexes.
Both have arches, carved pillars, and jeweled idols built in the 11-20th centuries.
Complex 1 has the oldest, most important 11th century temple along with other 15th cen-
tury temples, and that is what we would visit. From where we stood, the spread-out temples
of Complex 2 could easily be seen. Officials are in the process of painting all the Palitana
temples a light, creamy pink. I prefer the old, dingy outsides rather than whitewashed or
pink.
Exhausted after 3,500 steps, Niru, Steve and I sat down to rest, drink water, and snarf
down a fast snack, thighs locked in muscle fatigue, before entering. Inside the large court-
yard, litter bearers were sprawled on the ground, sitting, leaning against whatever they
could find; they too, completely exhausted.
Still
not inside the important area, forbidden to
food, water, shoes, and anything made of leather - we left all of these at a concession, got a
token and continued towards the first temple complex.
Let's talk briefly about Jainism “facts and trivia” before entering this immense complex.
Whatever we were told, and whatever you read below, may not be completely accurate and
could also be argued. This is just a short summary and I suggest research if you seriously
want to know more about the Jain religion:
Jainism has 24
tirthankaras
/prophets), and is an Indian religion that prescribes pacifism
and a path of nonviolence towards all living beings. This path of nonviolence extends to
insects. I saw Jain nuns carrying what looked like white, dust mops. The mops are used to
dust away insects before sitting down to avoid squashing them. (The nuns wouldn't have
liked me very much, swatting and killing flies in the car.);
Mahavira (599-527 B.C.) was the last of the
tirthankaras
and is generally considered
to be the founder of modern Jainism. Born Prince Vardhamana, he gave up his luxurious
lifestyle at age 30, spent over 12 years subjecting himself to arduous periods of fasting and
meditation, with no concern for sleep, cleanliness, food or water. Prince Vardhamana even-
tually attained enlightenment, and was later called Mahavira.
Jains are strict
vegetarians
. They do not eat anything that runs, swims or flies. Even root
vegetables are avoided.
Jains have 24 prayer topics, one for each
tirthankara
/prophet. Only one Jain prophet never
married (number 22), and his statue is usually depicted in a
dark color
.
How about this one: Nuns and monks don't shave their heads when they join the
"hood"; they
pull out each hair by the roots
. Once in the Jain clergy, they never ride in
vehicles, take trains or any form of transportation. They
walk
everywhere. (After our visit
to Palitana, we began to notice Jain nuns and monks always walking along the road.)
Last (according to Niru), there are approximately 5 million, wealthy Jains in India.
Much of their wealth is used to build new temples. There may be 15 million Jains in India
who don't declare themselves as "Jains" on official documents because of a quota system.
