On the full-moon day of the month of Karttika (October–November), at the same time that Hindus celebrate Diwali (the festival of lights), Jains commemorate the nirvana (final liberation; literally “becoming extinguished”) of Mahavira by lighting lamps. Another important Shvetambara ceremony, Jnanapanchami (literally “Knowledge Fifth,” where “Fifth” signifies a date), occurs five days later and is celebrated with temple worship and with reverence of the scriptures. The equivalent Digambara festival takes place in May–June. Mahavira Jayanti, the birthday of Mahavira, is celebrated by both sects in early April with public processions.
The most famous of all Jain festivals, Mastakabhisheka (“Head Anointment”), is performed every 12 years at the Digambara sacred complex at Shravanabelagola (“White Lake of the Ascetics”) in Karnataka state. In this ceremony the 57-foot- (17-metre-) high statue of Bahubali is anointed from above with a variety of substances (water, milk, flowers, etc.) in the presence of an audience that can approach one million. Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage, viewed as a particularly meritorious activity, is popular among renunciants and laity alike. Places of pilgrimage were created during the medieval period at sites marking the principal events in the lives of Tirthankaras, some of which were destroyed during the Muslim invasions, which started in the 8th century. Parasnath Hill and Rajgir in Bihar state and Shatrunjaya and Girnar hills on the Kathiawar Peninsula are among such important ancient pilgrimage sites. Other shrines that have become pilgrimage destinations are Shravanabelagola in Karnataka state, Mounts Abu and Kesariaji in Rajasthan state, and Antariksha Parshvanatha in Akola district of Maharashtra. For those unable to go on pilgrimage to the most famous sites, it is possible to worship their depictions in local temples. Small regional networks of shrines are also regarded as simulacra of the great pilgrimage sites. Jain literature Canonical and commentarial literature
Jain canonical scriptures do not belong to a single period, nor is any text free from later revision or additions. The sacred literature, transmitted orally, was first systematized in a council at Patna about the end of the 4th century bce, of which little can be said, and again in two later councils at Mathura (early 3rd century ce) and Valabhi. The fourth and last council, at Valabhi in the mid-5th century, is considered the source of the existing Shvetambara canon, though some commentators insist that the present version comes from the Mathura council.
The original, unadulterated teachings of the Tirthankaras, the Purvas, are said to have been contained in 14 ancient or “prior” (purva) texts, which are now lost. Shvetambaras and Digambaras agree that a time will come when the teachings of the Tirthankaras will be completely lost; Jainism will then disappear from the earth and reappear at an appropriate point in the next time cycle (kalpa). The two sects disagree, however, about the extent to which the corruption and loss of the Tirthankaras’ teachings has already occurred. Consequently, the texts for each sect differ.
The Shvetambaras embrace an extensive agama (Sanskrit: “tradition,” or “received teachings”; i.e., collection of canonical texts) as the repository of their tradition. Based upon what are believed to be discourses by Mahavira that were compiled by his disciples, this canon preserves his teachings in an imperfect way, since it has been subject to both interpolation and loss throughout the ages. The number of texts considered to make up the Shvetambara canon has varied over time and by monastic group. Largely through the influence of the 19th-century Austrian scholar Johann Georg Bühler, however, Western scholars have fixed the number of texts in this canon at 45, divided into six groups: the 11 Angas (“Parts”; originally there were 12, but one, the Drishtivada, has been lost), 12 Upangas (subsidiary texts), 4 Mula-sutras (basic texts), 6 Cheda-sutras (concerned with discipline), 2 Chulika-sutras (appendix texts), and 10 Prakirnakas (mixed, assorted texts). The Angas contain several dialogues, mainly between Mahavira and his disciple Indrabhuti Gautama, presumably recorded by the disciple Sudharman, who transmitted the teachings to his own disciples.
According to modern scholars, the Acharanga (first chapter) and the Sutrakritanga, among the Angas, and sections of the Uttaradhyayana, among the Mula-sutras, represent the oldest parts of the canon. The fifth Anga, the Bhagavati, is an extensive repository of early Jain teachings. The Cheda-sutra text Dashashrutaskandha concludes with the ritually important Kalpa-sutra, which recounts the lives of the Jinas and includes an appendix of rules for monastic life and a list of eminent monks.
The aṣṭamaṅgalas, or eight auspicious Jaina symbols, seen above and below the seated image of the Jina (saviour), miniature from the Kalpa-sūtra, 15th century; in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Bhadrabahu, traditionally recognized as the last Jain sage to know the contents of the Purvas, is thought to be the author of the Niryuktis, the earliest commentaries on the Jain canonical texts. These concise, metrical commentaries, written in Prakrit, gave rise to an expanded corpus of texts called Bhashyas and Churnis. Composed between the 4th and the 7th century, these texts contain many ancient Jain legends and historical traditions and a large number of popular stories that support Jain doctrine. The Bhashyas and Churnis, in turn, gave rise in the medieval period to a large collection of Sanskrit commentaries. Haribhadra, Shilanka, Abhayadeva, and Malayagiri are the best-known authors of such commentaries.
Digambaras give canonical status to two works in Prakrit: the Karmaprabhrita (“Chapters on Karma”), also called Shatkhandagama (“Scripture of Six Sections”), and the Kashayaprabhrita (“Chapters on the Kashayas”). The Karmaprabhrita, allegedly based on the lost Drishtivada text, deals with the doctrine of karma and was redacted by Pushpadanta and Bhutabalin in the mid-2nd century; the Kashayaprabhrita, compiled by Gunadhara from the same source about the same time, deals with the passions (kashaya) that defile and bind the soul. Later commentaries by Virasena (in the 8th century) and his disciple Jinasena (in the 9th century) on the Kashayaprabhrita are also highly respected by Digambaras.