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Published: June 29th 2006
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We set off for Ranakpur, after our three lovely relaxing days in Udaipur, we stopped in our guesthouse that Bengali was so eager to get to. Ranakpur really is a lovely little place, it’s tucked away in remote and quiet valley of the Aravalli Range. Our guesthouse was nice but our room turned out to have a great big hole in the wall so we had to get them to come in and block it over so the mozzies wouldn’t get in. They didn’t seem to see the big deal at all!
We had lunch at the guesthouse and then we went on a walk into the hills where Bengali said we might see a jaguar. Well needless to say we didn’t see the jaguar but we saw this amazing lake hidden in the hills and then we saw a cobra!! It was hidden in between two rocks but the Indian guys with us spotted us, we had to climb up a height on another few rocks to be able to see it without disturbing it. That night we had dinner in the guesthouse and there was a forest fire on the hills in the distance, it’s quite disturbing to see
the damage that can be done just by the sun! One of the Indian guys there also saw me reading and came over with a French book for me to read, it was so sweet and I don’t know if he understood that I don’t read French when I gave it back!
The next day we went to the Jain Temple down the road, it is absolutely amazing to see and walk around.
The main temple is the Chaumukha Temple, or Four-Faced Temple, dedicated to Adinath, the first tirthankar ('Jain Teacher'). Built in 1439, this huge, superbly crafted and well-kept marble temple has 29 halls supported by 14 pillars - no two are alike. Within the complex are two other Jain temples (dedicated to Neminath and Parasnath). We initially walked around the other temples as Chaumukha Temple does not open until 11, can’t say that the staff are particularly nice or helpful there but the temple is well worth seeing. We got a tour around by the High Priest which was quite interesting - of course he hit us for money when he was finished!
Jainism is the oldest continuous monastic tradition in India, the path of the Jinas, or
victors. This tradition is traced to Var-dhamana Mahavira (The Great Hero; ca. 599-527 B.C.), the twenty-fourth and last of the Tirthankaras (Sanskrit for fordmakers). According to legend, Mahavira was born to a ruling family in the town of Vaishali, located in the modern state of Bihar. At the age of thirty, he renounced his wealthy life and devoted himself to fasting and self-mortification in order to purify his consciousness and discover the meaning of existence. He never again dwelt in a house, owned property, or wore clothing of any sort. Following the example of the teacher Parshvanatha (ninth century B.C.), he attained enlightenment and spent the rest of his life meditating and teaching a dedicated group of disciples who formed a monastic order following rules he laid down. His life's work complete, he entered a final fast and deliberately died of starvation.
The ancient belief system of Jainism rests on a concrete understanding of the working of karma, its effects on the living soul (jiva ), and the conditions for extinguishing action and the soul's release.
At the heart of right conduct for Jains lie the five great vows:
Nonviolence (Ahimsa) - not to cause harm to any living
beings
Truthfulness (Satya) - to speak the harmless truth only
Non-stealing (Asteya) - not to take anything not properly given
Chastity (Brahmacharya) - not to indulge in sensual pleasure
Non-possession/Non-attachment (Aparigraha) - complete detachment from people, places, and material things.
The ultimate Jain discipline, rests on complete inactivity and absolute nonviolence (ahimsa) against any living beings. Some Jain monks and nuns wear face masks to avoid accidently inhaling small organisms, and all practicing believers try to remain vegetarians. Extreme renunciation, including the refusal of all food, lies at the heart of a discipline that purges the mind and body of all desires and actions and, in the process, burns off the consequences of actions performed in the past.
By the first century A.D., the Jain community evolved into two main divisions based on monastic discipline: the Digambara or "sky-clad" monks who wear no clothes, own nothing, and collect donated food in their hands; and the Svetambara or "white-clad" monks and nuns who wear white robes and carry bowls for donated food. The Digambara do not accept the possibility of women achieving liberation, while the Svetambara do.
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