The ancient shrine of Shri Stambhan Parshwanath Prabhu is located at Khambhat in Gujarat Kheda district. There are many Jinalayas in Khambhat.Stambhan Parshwanath Jinalaya in Anand is one of the oldest and famous pilgrim sites in the state of Gujarat.
The statue of Shri Stambhan Parshwanath bestows divinity by transforming it into a beautifully crafted parikar.Adorned with five fangs of Krishna Varna, Padmasanastha, this idol is 6 inches high and 3 inches wide. The saptafana in the parikar gives grandeur.
In this post we will look at the history of Shri Stambhan Parshvanath.
1.The history of Shri Stambhan Parshvanath Prabhu is glorious. During the reign of Shri Damodar Prabhu of the last chovishi, a listener named Ashadhi established a beautiful idol of Neelmaratna of the 23th Tirthankar Shri Parshvanath Prabhu of Anagat Chovisi and worshiped Seva Puja for years.Then Saudharmadev worshiped him for thousands of years. Then Varunadev worshiped this idol. From time to time this idol came to Nagraj and took him to the abyss and started worshiping with other gods.
Stambhan parshwanath
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🙏Stambhan parshwanath 🙏 |
In the period of the twentieth Tirthankar Lord Shri Munisuvrat Swami, Ramchandraji was camping on the sea shore with the army to get Sitaji back from Ravana. Ramchandraji was worried about how to cross the vast ocean. Then Rama-Lakshman saw a magnificent Jinalaya in a nearby area. Rama-Lakshman was overjoyed to see the supernatural idol of Shri Parshvanath Prabhu in Jinalaya.
Both worshiped the Lord with one mind. There Nagraj became real(Pratyaksha) and he told the glorious history of the influential idol to both. Both Rama and Lakshmana again saluted Shri Parshvanath Prabhu with the devotion(anera bhav of Haiyana) and came out of Jinalaya where they got the news that the sea had stagnated. Rama-Lakshman was delighted by the direct influence of God. At that time Ramachandraji greeted this Paramatma with name Shri Stambhan Parshwanath. All celebrated Shri Jinendra Bhakti Mahotsav.
2.The flow of time kept flowing. When the ninth Vasudeva, Lord Krishna, camped on the beach for a few days, he saw Neelmaratna Sumanohar Jinpratima in a jinalaya. At that time, the serpents(Nagraj) were doing devotional dance before the Lord. The Nagkumars saw Lord Krishna and told him the glorious history of the idol of Lord Krishna. At the insistent request of Lord Krishna Maharaj, the Nagkumars said yes to take this divine idol to Dwarika. In Dwarika, this idol was revered in the Jinalaya inlaid with gold and gems.
Years passed. One day when the city of Dwarika fell victim to the wrath of nature, at the suggestion of the presiding deity, a shravaka threw this idol into the sea. Dwarika town was destroyed in a natural calamity. But the idol remained safe in the sea. Inside the sea, Nagendra Dev named Takshak worshiped and praised this idol for 80 thousand years. Then Vasudeva started worshiping this idol. Varuna worshiped this idol for four thousand years.
3.One day Sarthavah Dhanashreshthi of Kantipur went abroad in a vehicle for trade. On the way, their vehicles came to a halt. Dhanashreshthi made untiring efforts, but no solution worked. Disappointed, Dhanashreshthi thought of committing suicide. And when he started preparations for that, Akashwani came and Dhanashreshthi stopped for self-extinction.
It was learned through Akashwani that this disaster will be removed only by the influence of the idol of Shri Parshvanath Prabhu who has divinity in the bottom of the sea, as well as the entire history of that idol was known by Dhanashreshti through Akashwani.
Dhanashreshthi was enchanted by Divyavani and with divine help he brought out the divine idol of Shri Parshva Prabhu from the bottom of the sea. It turned out that the vehicles were moving. All the vehicles reached Kantipur Hemkhem. Shrestha entered the magnificent town of Pratimaji with Anera Utsav and seated him in a spectacular Jinalaya.
Along with this idol, two other idols received wealth from the sea. One of them is the idol of Shri Parshvanath Prabhu in Charup village and the idol of Shri Neminath Prabhu still exists in Shri Pattan.
Thus for two thousand years the listeners(Shravako) of Kantipur worshiped this idol of Shri Parshvanath Prabhu with haiyana Bhav(Heartly).
In the first Sauka of Vikrama, a yogi named Nagarjuna, who was a disciple of Shri Padaliptasuri, decapitated this idol and achieved the achievement of Kotivedya Naman Rasa Siddhi under the influence of this idol. After the accomplishment, Nagarjuna buried this idol in the ground under the Khakra tree on the banks of the river Sedhi. This idol was also worshiped by the devas there.
4.Shri Abhaydevmuni, a disciple of Shri Jineshwar Suriji Maharaj, became famous as Suri at the age of only 16 years. Due to the glory of karma, this Suridev became a victim of leprosy. Suridev was deeply saddened by this disease causing blasphemy. Then Shasandevi gave a direct darshan to Suridev and consoled him and said that there is a divine idol of Shri Parshvanath Prabhu in the ground under the Khakra tree on the bank of Sedhi river. He said to reveal the idol. Shasandevi narrated the history of the idol and also requested to form a critique of the nine organs.
According to Shasandevi, Shri Abhaydevsuri along with Sangh came to the bank of Sethi river. There Suridev composed 32 verses Jayatihuan Stotrani. Shri Stambhan revealed the divine and supernatural image of Parshvanath. The leprosy of Suridev was instantly destroyed by the bath water of this idol. At the suggestion of Dharanendradev, Suridev recited the last two verses of the hymn.
Sreesanth built a new Jinalaya at Stambhanpur on the banks of the Shedhi river
With the blessings of Shri Abhaydevsuridev, Shri Stambhan Parshvanath Prabhu was established in Jinalaya. This incident happened in the 11th century. Suridev created the instincts of the nine limbs under the divine influence of the idol.
5.In Vikram Samvat 1368, the miraculous, divine idol of Shri Stambhan Parshvanathji was brought to Stambhan Tirtha from there. The Sangh of Khambhat started doing seva-puja-bhakti. In this way the soukas(century) passed. Devotees of the idol continued to worship. In Vikram Samvat 1952, the goldsmith (Soni) of Tarapur stole this idol of Nilmaratna, but due to the efforts of the Sangh, Soni was caught and the idol was recovered by the Sangh.
This idol was re-honored by the emperor Vijayanemisurishwarji Maharaj in the Vikram Samvat 1955. The Jinalaya was renovated with the teachings of the Shasan emperor Shri Vijayanemisurishwarji Maharaj.
A grand prestige festival of Jinalaya was celebrated in the presence of Pujyashree on Phagan Sud 9 of Vikram Samvat 1984.
Khambhat is still an important place of Jain activities today. This shrine is located at a distance of 1 km from Khambhat railway station. It is at a distance of 20 km from Vadodara. The dining hall here is an excellent facility of Ambilshala and Dharamshala etc. Khambhat is the main shrine of Shri Stambhan Parshvanath in Kharwala.
Even today this magnificent Jinalaya in Kharwada of Khambhat exists with relics of the past. This Jinalaya with three peaks is spectacular. In the morning and night pratikrama, devotees greet Shri Stambhan Parshvanath in the Sutra of Tirthvandna. There are many ancient texts about this pilgrimage and idol worship. This shrine has been praised by the sages.
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Michhami Dukkadam if written against Jinagna.
Author- Mokshit Shah
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