Hyderabad: This is one temple where one should seek only “Moksha” – complete purity of soul – but not materialistic benefits from God! Kulpak Jain Tirtha kshetra in Telangana state is not only the biggest Jain pilgrimage centre in South India, but also the country and world.
The 2nd century temple of Bhagwan Manikyaswamy, the first and foremost tirthankara out of the 24 tirthankaras of the Shwethamber Jain community, is also known as Rishabhdev or Adinath.
Jains believe that 15 visits to Kulpak Tirtha on full moon days and performing seva, tapa and japa, will end all the troubles of their life! The famed temple is located in Kolanupaka in Aler mandal of Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district in TS, 80 kms from Hyderabad and 7 kms from Aler off the Hyderabad-Warangal highway. Besides the presiding deity or mulnayaka, Bhagwan Manikyaswamy, the architecturally beautiful ancient temple houses the precious jade idol of Bhagwan Mahavira, the 24th and last tirthankara, Neminatha and other Tirthankara idols belonging to the Shwethambar sect of the Jains who maintain the temple.
Legends of the idol
There are several stories on the formation of Bhagwan Manikyaswamy idol and temple.
According to one story, the first and foremost tirthankara out of the 24 tirthankaras is Rishabhdev or Adinath Bhagwan. His eldest son, King of kings Bharat used to wear a finger ring made of “Feroza,” a precious greenish stone. He got the image of Manikyaswamy engraved on the precious stone. He established Tirtha called “Astapad” as desired by people.
Another mythological story is that Ravana’s wife Mandhodari, believed to be a Jain, worshipped the wonderful Swayambhu idol. It is said that she was worried about the safety of the idol when Ravana kidnapped Sita and feared the destruction of Lanka. As per her suggestion, the idol of Manikyaswamy was immersed in the ocean.
When a plague hit the region during the reign of King Shankera of Karnataka who was a follower of Jainism, the king prayed to Padmavati Devi who instructed the king to sprinkle holy water or snatrajal of the idol of Manikyaswamy on the victims to check the spread of the disease.
On the instructions of Padmavati Devi, King Shanker retrieved the idol from the ocean and brought it on a bullock cart driven by calves. As desired by Padmavati, King Shankar Dev constructed the holy temple and installed the image of Manikyaswamy.
The story of Kulpak
The finding of Jain antiquities and the study of historical evidence indicate Kulpak rose to prominence as a Jain kshetra during the heydays of Rashtrakutas when Sankaraganda ruled over Kollipakaya-rajya in 9th century AD. It continued to enjoy the patronage of Rashtrakutas and their successors.
Initially Kulpak was a military outpost and gradually grew into a prosperous, religious and key city spread over 90 sq kms with fortifications. It further flourished during the reign of the Chalukyas as a Jain pilgrim centre in the 11th and 12th century.
The pilgrim centre was attacked by Rajendra Chola and his son Rajadhiraja, angry over the exodus of Jains from Tamil Nadu to Andhra. The Jains reportedly got protection from the Chalukyas.
Over 20 Jain inscriptions were found in Kulpak which indicate the presence of a good number of Jain temples and bastis in the area. One inscription records the construction of Neminath and installation of Parasnath idol by Mahamandalesvra Kumara Mangideva, who belongs to Tintrini gaesha.
Another dated 1107 AD records the gift of land in the village of Chapulia by Kumara Someshwara to Paraswanatha-Jinalaya.
Nagri inscriptions dated AD 1711 indicate Jainism flourished again during the reign of Mughal Bahadur Shah 1.
In Jainism, the installation of “manastambha” in front of the temple is considered an auspicious act. Sri Kesiraja claims to have installed a manastambha and makara torana in the temple of Ambika, the sarandevi of Neminath Bhagwan, the 22nd tirthankara.
An epitaph of Meghachandra-Siddhantadeva came to light on the wall of the Jain Mandir. This epitaph engraved in the 12th century states that Meghachandra took sanyas-diksha to enter Samadhi.
It was a practice for pious Jains to observe Sallekhana or sanyasa diksha at the fag end of life with the object of attaining “Samadhi—marana, sanyasa—marana or pandit marana.” This reflects Kollipaka was considered a sacred tirtha kshetra where Jains observed sallekhana, a vow for terminating their lives. Endowed with richly carved temples and busadis, Jainism at Kulpak reached its glory during the 11th and 12th century AD under the Chalukyas.
A pilgrim centre
“Bhagwan Manikyaswamy temple in Kolanupaka is a world famous pilgrimage centre for Jains. The temple is powerful, hence devotees come here for meditation,” Surender Luniya, President, Jain Shwethambar Tirtha, Kolanupaka told this newspaper.
He added, “Jains strictly believe in Karma and Moksha. God doesn’t give anything or take anything. The philosophy here is that you should not seek anything from God except Moksha. Moksha means liberation or salvation of a soul from samsara, the cycle of birth and death. Such a soul is called Siddha and revered in Jainism.”
According to Luniya, the world famous 4-ft-tall greenish Jade idol which is considered as Bhagwan Mahaveera now might have been that of Bhagwan Manikyaswamy. “When someone put the value of the jade idol at 1,000 million dollars there was a surge of pilgrims. We appealed to one and all not to put a price tag on God,” Luniya said.
“If you want fulfillment of materialistic desires, one has to pray to Goddess Padmavati Devi here. She is very powerful,” says Prakash Jain Munoth, a businessman and a regular at the temple.
The Jain pilgrim centre has good facilities for devotees including 200 rooms for stay and meditation. Food is provided free of cost.
“Pilgrims come here round the year but more during Purnima, Chaitramas and other festivities. There is a surge of pilgrims from all over the world from September to December. The temple is open from 5.30 am to 1 pm and 4 pm to 7.30 pm daily” he explains.
The temple is housed on a 25 acre plot of land. Besides idols of other Gods, there is a museum. There are 8 idols in the complex—Mahaveera, Neeminath, Pashwanath, Shantinath, Abhinandanswamy, Rishbdev and one idol of the 24 Tirtakaras
