A house temple (Ghar Derasar or Griha Chaityalaya) is a private
Jain shrine that is placed within a personal residence. Sometimes it is separate room or structure in a compound.
Jain scholars prescribe that the height of a pratima in a house shrine should not exceed 11
aṅgula Aṅgula (from sa, अङ्गुल - 'a finger; the thumb; a finger's breadth') is a measure of length. Twelve ''aṅgulas'' make a Vitasti or span, and twenty-four a Hasta or Cubit
The cubit is an ancient unit of length based on th ...
s, i.e. about 21 cm.
The formal communal temple is often referred to as a
shikharbandi Jinalaya, i.e. with a
shikhara
''Shikhara'' (IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chamber ...
. Sometimes a temple starts as a house temple, which grows into a formal shikharbandi Jinalaya when the community grows to be sufficiently large.
श्री गोड़ी पार्श्वनाथ, Acharya Vimal Sagar Suri, शेठ अमीचंदभाई ने आराधना के लिए अपने घर में गृह जिनालय बनाया था।
/ref>
Jain author Haribhadra Suri
Aacharya Haribhadra Suri was a Svetambara mendicant Jain leader, philosopher , doxographer, and author. There are multiple contradictory dates assigned to his birth. According to tradition, he lived c. 459–529 CE. However, in 1919, a Jain m ...
states in one of his famous granthas, ''Sambodh Prakran'' that if a lay person
In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother.
In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...
has savings more than 100 rupees, then there must be a ''Ghar derasar'' at his/her home. Further he says that the house which does not have a Ghar derasar is not a home, it is a graveyard.
In that derasar, an image of a Tirthankara
In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (Sanskrit: '; English: literally a 'ford-maker') is a saviour and spiritual teacher of the ''dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a '' tirtha'', which is a fordable passag ...
must be installed, on which the rituals of anjanashalaka (Panch Kalyanaka Pratishtha Mahotsava
''Panch Kalyanaka Pratishtha Mahotsava'' is a traditional Jain ceremony that consecrates one or more Jain Tirthankara icons with celebration of Panch Kalyanaka (five auspicious events). The ceremony is generally held when new Jain temple is ere ...
) must be done.
See also
* Butsudan
A , sometimes spelled Butudan, is a shrine commonly found in temples and homes in Japanese Buddhist cultures. A ''butsudan'' is either a defined, often ornate platform or simply a wooden cabinet sometimes crafted with doors that enclose and pr ...
References
{{Jainism Topics
Jain temples and tirthas