Beginning of Relgious Studies- Jainism

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After returning from Thailand, we were in Bangalore for a little over 24 hours before we turned around and headed out on a mini-field visit to Shravanabelagola (say that three times fast!) in northern Karnataka. The purpose of this field visit was to learn about Jainism, an ancient religion that got its start in India.

The main thing that I got out of the visit is that Jains place high influence on non-violence and peace. The concept of non-violence extends to all living things, including plants and tiny insects. Therefore, Jains don’t consume root vegetables because by eating the root, you completely kill the plant, whereas with fruits and vegetables that grow above ground, you don’t need to kill the entire plant in order to consume its product. And, you guessed it, they’re strict vegetarians. Jain monks are chaste and, well, they don’t wear clothing. There are four levels of monks in the sect that we studied. At the first level, one wears normal street clothes as he begins to study the scriptures. At the second level, one wears a simple cloth wrapped around the lower part of his body, and a similar cloth wrapped around the top. Moving towards renunciation of the material world, both third and fourth level monks are completely nude. They have no possessions other than a duster made of naturally fallen peacock feathers that they use to sweep the ground in front of them so as not to crush any insects beneath their feet.

I’m not really sure what the difference between third and fourth level monks are, but at some point, they give up eating with utensils and plates, using only their hands. They eat only once a day, and they keep complete silence between sunset and sunrise.

Our first morning in Shravanabelagola started early- we woke up at were ready to get on our bus at 5:30. The bus took us to the hill that devout Jains climb every morning. Since we were trying to get a feel for their lifestyle, we climbed it too. All 660+ steps. There’s a temple at the top, where there stands a 57-foot tall statue of Gommateshwara Bahubali, one of the first Jains to achieve enlightenment. He is, of course, non-violent and naked.

The Jains were very kind and eager to share their belief, inter-religious dialog is something that seems to come very naturally to them.

The afternoon of our visit included a climb up a smaller hill (300 steps?) and an interview with Swamiji, a man who oversees the activities of the Jains.

The next day, we visited a couple of Hindu temples, and then headed back to Bangalore to get ready for our big trip to the North.

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Photos

I think I can...I think I can...
Good morning, sunshine!

Morning Mist
200 stairs up, already a great view.