Sammed Shikharji Jain Temple  and Shetrunjay  hill

Context: Members of the Jain community have been staging protests in many states including Delhi for the past two weeks over demands related to two holy sites — Sammed Shikhar on Parasnath hill in Jharkhand and Shetrunjay hill in Palitana of Gujarat.

About Sammed Shikharji Jain Temple:

• Shikharji, often spelled Sammed or Sammet Shikharji, is a holy place in the Indian state of Jharkhand’s Giridih district.
• The highest mountain in the state of Jharkhand, Parasnath Hill, is where it is situated.
• Both Digambara and Svetambara consider it to be the most significant Jain Tirtha (pilgrimage destination), as it is the location where twenty of the twenty-four Jain tirthankaras, together with numerous other monks, obtained Moksha.
• The Jnatrdharmakatha, one of the twelve fundamental texts of Jainism, has the first mention of Shikharji as a Tirth (place of pilgrimage).
• The Parsvanathacarita, a biography of Prva written in the eleventh century, also makes mention of Shikharji.
• An illustration of Parshavanatha’s nirvana at Shikharji can be seen in a palm-leaf manuscript of the Kalpa Stra and Kalakacaryakatha from the thirteenth century CE.
• In 1768 CE, Jagat Seth rebuilt the temples at Shikharji to their present configuration.
• The 1678 CE date is written in Sanskrit at the bottom of the image.
• There is a Bhomiyaji temple at the foot of Shikharji (Taleti).
• There is a mural painting of every temple on Parasnath Hill on the walls of the Jain temple in the village of Madhuban.
• The earliest temple to hold a Bhaktamara Stotra yantra is the Svetambara Bhaktamara temple, founded by Acharya Ramchandrasuri.

About Shetrunjay Hill:

• The hills are located in Palitana city of Bhavnagar district in Gujarat.
• The hills are located on the banks of river Shetrunji and are considered as a sacred hill by Jains.
• The hills are bounded by the Gulf of Khambhat in the south and Bhavnagar town in the north.
• Shatrunjaya translates to Place of Victory.
• The temples atop this hill is said to have been built more than 900 years ago, and are grouped into enclosures.
• Jains believe that Adinath, who is the founder of Jainism, had meditated beneath the tree at the summit of this place.
• The temple complex here also has a shrine of a Muslim saint, Angar Pir.
• The most important temple of all here is the Adinath Temple, located on the highest point of the place.

About Shetrunji River:

• It is an eastward-flowing river in Gujarat. The river rises in the northeast of Gir Hills. The river has a maximum length of 227 kilometres.

Source: Indian Express

Previous Year Questions

Q.1) With reference to Indian history, consider the following pairs:

Historical person                     Known as

1. Aryadeva                             Jaina scholar
2. Dignaga                              Buddhist scholar
3. Nathamuni                        Vaishnava scholar

How many pairs given above are correctly matched ?

1. None of the pairs
2. Only one pair
3. Only two pairs
4. All three pairs

Q.2) With reference to the history of ancient India, Bhavabhuti, Hastimalla and Kshemeshvara were famous  (2021)

1. Jain monks
2. playwrights
3. temple architects
4. philosophers