About
Acharya Mantunga Shrine: Bhojpur, Madhya Pradesh
Author of the famous Jain poem 'Bhaktamar Stotra'. Acharya Mantunga lived about 1100 BCE near the court of King Bhoj. It is said that King Bhoj once called for him, but Acharya Mantunga did not follow, for he was practicing austerities to be near his self.
When he was brought in front of the king by force, he prefered to remain silent under the given circumstances, instead of responding to the spiritual requests of the king. The angry king ordered to put Acharya Mantunga in jail, where the latter started to compose the 'Bhaktamar Stotra' as a prayer to the first Tirthankara Rishabha. Every verse of the poem has the power of a Mantra, due to the power of this poem Acharya Mantunga came repeatedly out of prison by breaking a chain of 48 locks.