Sri Digambar Jain Lal Mandir
Encyclopedia
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
temple in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It is directly across from the Red Fort in the historical Chandni Chowk
Chandni Chowk
Chandni Chowk , originally meaning moonlit square or market, is one of the oldest and busiest markets in Old Delhi, now in central north Delhi, India...
area.
It is known for an avian veterinary hospital in a second building behind the main temple.
Located just opposite the massive Red Fort at the intersection of Netaji Subhas Marg and Chandni Chowk, Digambar Jain Temple is the oldest temple of the Jain religion in the capital, originally built in 1656. An impressive red sandstone temple today (the temple has undergone many alterations and additions in the past and was enlarged in the early 19th century), Shri Digambar Jain Lal Mandir is popularly known as Lal Mandir "Red Temple".
History
Modern Delhi was founded by Mughal Emperor Shah JahanShah Jahan
Shah Jahan Shah Jahan (also spelled Shah Jehan, Shahjehan, , Persian: شاه جهان) (January 5, 1592 – January 22, 1666) Shah Jahan (also spelled Shah Jehan, Shahjehan, , Persian: شاه جهان) (January 5, 1592 – January 22, 1666) (Full title: His Imperial Majesty Al-Sultan al-'Azam wal Khaqan...
(1628-1658) who built what is commonly known as the old city or old Delhi, surrounded by a wall, with the main street Chandni Chowk
Chandni Chowk
Chandni Chowk , originally meaning moonlit square or market, is one of the oldest and busiest markets in Old Delhi, now in central north Delhi, India...
in front of the Red Fort, the imperial residence.
Jahangir invited several Jain
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
fianciers to come and settle in the city and granted them some land south of the Chandani Chauk around Dariba Gali. He also permitted them to build a temporary structure to house a Jain temple
Derasar
A derasar is a temple for followers of Jainism, except for non-murtipujak Svetambaras. Derasar is a word used in Gujarat, Kutch and parts of Rajasthan, in other parts of India, the term Jain Mandir is used for all the Jain temples. Jain idols of Tirthankaras are worshipped there...
. The Jain community acquired three marble idols installed by Jivaraj Papriwal
Jivaraj Papriwal
Jivaraja Paprival was the legendary installer of as many as 100,000 Jain images in 15th century, now found in Jain temples all over India. He was a trader in the Rajasthani town of Mudasa in 15th century....
under the supervision of Bhattaraka
Bhattaraka
A Bhaṭṭāraka is the head of traditional Jain institutions. They are responsible for training of scholars, maintenance of libraries, managing the endowments, presiding over the installation ceremonies and running of Jain institutions....
Jinachandra in Samvat 1548 (1491 AD) for the temple. The main idol is that of Tirthankara Parshva
Parshva
Pārśva or Paras was the twenty-third Tirthankara "Ford-Maker" in Jainism . He is the earliest Jain leader generally accepted as a historical figure. Pārśva was a nobleman belonging to the Kshatriya varna....
.
It is said that the deities in temple were originally kept in a tent belonging to a Jain officer of the Mughal army.
During the Mughal period, the construction of a sikhara
Sikhara
Śikhara, a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India. Sikhara over the sanctum sanctorum where the presiding deity is enshrined is the most prominent and visible part of a Hindu temple of North India.In south...
for a temple was not permitted. This temple did not have a formal shikara until after India's independence when the temple was extensively rebuilt.
In 1800-1807, Raja Harsukh Rai
Raja Harsukh Rai
Raja Harsukh Rai the chief of the Agrawal community, and a builder of several Jain temples in and around Delhi, was the imperial treasurer during Sam. 1852-Sam. 1880....
, the imperial treasurer obtained imperial permission to build a temple with a sikhara in the Jain neighborhood of Dharamapura, just south of Chandani Chauk. Thus temple, known for fine carvings, is now known as the Naya Mandir
Naya Mandir
Naya Mandir is a historic Jain temple in Old Delhi, in the Dharampura locality allocated to the Jain community by Aurangzeb....
"New Temple".
The Gauri Shankar temple next to the Lal Mandir, was founded about a century later in 1761 by Appa Gangadhara, a Maratha Brahman in the service of the Scindia when Delhi was under their influence. It also has been significantly rebuilt in the past few decades.
The Temple complex
A manastambhaManastambha
Manastambha is a pillar that is often constructed in front of Jain temples. In north India, it is always topped by four Tirthankara images.A Jain temple represents the samosharana of the Lord Tirthankara...
column stands in front of the temple.
The main devotional area of the temple is on the first floor. It is reached by ascending to the terrace after crossing the small courtyard of the temple, surrounded by a colonnade.
There are a number of shrines in this area but the main shrine is of Lord Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism. Born in 599 BC in the ancient republic of Vaishali (Bihar) as a prince, he renounced all worldly pleasures and comforts and went in search of 'Moksha' (salvation). Soon he attained keval-jnana (Enlightenment), and spent the rest of his life preaching to the people all over the country about the eternal truth of life and ways to attain Moksha. Though some believe that he was the founder of Jainism but he was in a real sense the reformer of an existing faith who reorganized and presented the tenets of the religion in a form suitable to the period.
The statue of Lord Adinath, the first Tirthankara of the Jain religion is also present here, along with the shrine of Lord Parasnath, the immediate predecessor of Lord Mahavira. The temple is quite popular among the people as devotees come and make offerings such as fruits, grains, rice and even candles. The place is very peaceful and the ambience is really soothing especially due to the shining of the gilded paintwork of the shrine area under the lights of butter lamps and candles.
In 1931, a Digambar Jain monk, Acharya
Acharya
In Indian religions and society, an acharya is a guide or instructor in religious matters; founder, or leader of a sect; or a highly learned man or a title affixed to the names of learned men...
Shantisagar
Shantisagar
Acharya Shri Shantisagar Maharaj, Charitra Chakravarti was the first Digambar Jain Acharya of the 20th century, and the first Digambar Jain monk to wander in North India after several centuries....
arrived in Delhi. He was the first Digambar Jain monk to visit Delhi after a gap of eight centuries. There is a memorial marking this historical occasion.