Idol worship: Jain Agamas give no reference to moorthis in poojas or temples
"To: jain-list@gw.ddb.com
Subject: temples with moortis
From: "Y. Malaiya"
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 10:09:05
Sender: malaiya@CS.ColoState.EDU
Temples with moortis
Rolf Heiner Koch wrote:
The Jain Agamas seems to give not one reference to poojas or even to
temples with moortis etc...[1]
This was the observation of Lonka Shah who had founded the Lonka
Gachchh opposed to idol worship. The Swetambar Sthanakvasi and the
Swetambar Terapanthi sects[2], both descendants of the Lonka Gachchh,
do not believe in idol worship. Around the same time Taranpanth was
started among the Digambaras [3], who worship the books but not the
idols.
There has been considerable discussion about this, with the
murtipujak scholars pointing to passages that seem to suggest idol
worship.
Swami Dayananda (founder of Arya Samaj) "blamed" the Jains for having
started idol worship [4]. He may actually be right, the Lohanipur
idols are likely older than any Vishnu, Shiva or Buddha idols. The
Vedika Brahmins actually had a disdain for temple worship as one can
observe from Manu-Smriti etc.
It should be noted that in Jainism it is not the idol that is
worshipped, rather the idol is a symbol for the deity. The worshipper
simply uses the idol to meditate about the Tirthankara himself. An
idol is just a piece of rock until it is has gone through the
installation ceremony, where it undergoes the same events as the
Tirthankaras had. One thus imagines the presence of the Tirthankara
through the idol as a symbol.
Ultimately, the Sravakas are characterized by the vratas, and not by
symbols used for meditation.
Symbols like the temples anchor our faith and provide a sense of
identity.
Incidentally it should be noted that there have always been Brahmins
who were part of the Jain Sangh, just like there were kings, farmers,
merchants, artisans etc who were Jain. This is also true for
Buddhism. Today, one often connects Brahmins exclusively with worship
of Krishna, Shiva etc, but it was not always the case."
Y. Malaiya"
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