Absent Lord: Temples

Jain temples abound in both Jaipur and Ahmedabad, but in a different mix of sectarian affiliations. Ahmedabad is a Svetambar world, and the city's temples reflect that fact. A well-connected Jain of Ahmedabad told me that there are about 280 temples in that city. In Jaipur, most Jain temples belong to the Digambars, who substantially out-number the Svetambars. A recent directory of Digambar Jain temples in Jaipur and environs (Nyayatirth 1990) lists a total of 127, large and small. Svetambar temples are many fewer; in the old city there are only four large ones. Still, I found no shortage of Svetambar temples to visit in Jaipur. In both cities the oldest temples are in the older sections of the city; newer structures, usually architecturally far less distinguished, have arisen in outlying areas as Jains have begun to move to suburbs.

A Jain temple (mandir; in Gujarat often called derasar) is a place where consecrated images of the Tirthankars (Figure 5) are worshiped. Images of ancillary deities and revered ascetics of the past are usually present in Jain temples, but the Tirthankars are central. Some of the images in a temple are fixed; others are smaller and moveable. In essence, a temple is a physical replica of the samvasaran, the universal assembly of those who come to hear a Tirthankar's preaching (P.S. Jaini 1979: 196). It is also a place of ritual isolation. Prior to consecration, Tirthankar images are simply inert objects of stone or metal; afterwards, they are sacred things that must be treated in accord with exacting rules. A temple is a protected zone in which such images can be shielded from the physical and spiritual impurities of the outside world.

Those who enter the temple should do so in a condition of ritual purity. The stringency of this requirement, however, depends on the worshiper's intentions. A Jain temple is divided into two zones of sacred space: the main hall and the inner shrine in which the Tirthankars' images are stationed. Some types of worship can be performed in the main hall, while other require entering the inner shrine. Persons in deep pollution (such as menstruating women or those in whose families there has been childbirth or a recent death) are barred from the main hall. One's mouth should be rinsed out before entering the temple. The worshiper should also avoid wearing items of clothing made of leather. My experience has been that Digambars enforce this rule more strictly than do Svetambars.^[1] More demanding rules govern access to the inner shrine. Although Jains tend to be rather unfussy about the categories of persons who can enter this inner space (even non-Jain foreigners are not barred), those who enter must be freshly bathed and wearing special garments used only for this purpose. Men's clothing should be unstitched; for women, some stitching is allowed. While in the inner shrine, worshipers should also cover their mouths with a cloth, which has the purpose - as we have already noted - of preventing impurities from being breathed on the images.

The movement of worshipers across the boundaries of a temple's zones of relative purity is marked by a simple vocal rite of transition

Figure 5.
An image of Mahavir. The main image in the
Mahavir temple at Osiya.

representing stages of separation from the outer world. When entering a temple from the outside, one should say nisihi three times (although many temple-goers omit this step). This signifies one's intention to give up, while within, all speaking or thinking about worldly affairs; speaking or thinking about temple-related matters is permitted. Upon entering the inner shrine one should utter this formula again. This time it signifies an intention to give up all speaking or thinking even about temple affairs. At the conclusion of one's attentions to the image, the formula should be repeated yet a third time; this time it marks a further stage of removal from the world, namely, the transition from material worship (dravya puja) to a form of mental worship (bhav puja), which occurs after the material worship is completed.

A temple's main image, called the mul nayak (literally, "root lord"), sits at the center of the altar platform with other Tirthankar images to either side. Many of the images in a temple are portable; these can be taken off the altar for worship elsewhere. A temple visitor should perform obeisance to the main image first, then to other images. Every consecrated Tirthankar image is supposed to be worshiped once per day. If no ordinary worshiper is available to do this, then it is the responsibility of the temple's pujari (temple servant).

It should be stressed that the role of "temple priest," in the strict sense, is absent among Svetambar Jains. In both Hindu and Jain temples are found functionaries known as pujaris. The term pujari means "one who does puja " - that is, one who worships - and in Hindu temples they function as actual ritual mediators between human devotees and deities. This whole idea, however, is fundamentally alien to the Svetambar Jain conception of a worshiper's relation to sacred beings. For them there is no mediation; the worshiper himself or herself does the worshiping, which is consistent with the more encompassing Jain conviction that the beings of the world must, in the final analysis, pursue their spiritual interests on their own. The pujaris in Jain temples are, accordingly, regarded as menial temple servants; they are ritual assistants, not priests. They prepare the materials used in worship and assist worshipers in various other ways, but they worship images only as stand-ins for absent Jains. For reasons that will be addressed later in this chapter, in Jain temples these ritual assistants are almost always non-Jain.^[2] In Ahmedabad I never met a Jain pujari; in Jaipur I heard of an Osval pujari at one temple who was said to have taken up the work because of poverty.

Observant Jains normally visit temples as part of their usual morning activities. Unless it is a special occasion there is generally not much happening in a Jain temple during the evening hours; an evening lamp-offering ceremony (arati) is part of the normal daily schedule, but it tends to be sparsely attended. A temple's routines may be seen as an assortment of loosely coordinated opportunities for individuals to choose from a variety of standardized modes of encounter with the divine images. People do whatever their own inclinations and inspirations lead them to do. Some merely stop by to take the images' darsan (auspicious vision). In the full rite the darsan -taker should greet the Tirthankar im-ages with folded hands, saying "namo jinanam," and should then circumambulate the images, ideally three times, moving around the images (through a special hallway found in most temples) in a clockwise direction. Many, however, abbreviate this procedure. After taking darsan a worshiper might also perform a caitya vandan. This is a rite consisting of oral recitations of praise-verses coordinated with a series of physical obeisances.^[3] Or the worshiper might perform what is called the astprakari puja, the "eightfold worship," or some portion of this rite. The eightfold worship will be described later in the chapter. Another possibility is to perform a rite known as the snatra puja, the "bathing rite." This is one of the most important rites in the Svetambar repertoire and is the point of departure for this chapter.

During my stays in both Ahmedabad and Jaipur I was a frequent morning visitor to temples. In Ahmedabad there was a flourishing temple not far from the Gandhi Ashram where I was living, and this was my destination most mornings. In Jaipur I attempted to branch out as much as possible, but many of my morning visitations were to a small temple and dadabari, not yet fully built, in one of the newer suburbs quite close to my flat. In both these temples the snatra puja was performed on a regular basis. In the temple in Ahmedabad it was performed every day by a permanent group of four or five devotees. In my neighborhood temple in Jaipur it was performed, again by a small group of regulars, on the eighths and fourteenths of every lunar fortnight. Because it is also performed as a preliminary to all major rites of worship (an example being Parsvanath's five-kalyanak puja) I had many other opportunities to observe it.