Aharji is a historical pilgrimage site for

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current ...

in India. It is located in the central Indian state of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, on the road from

Tikamgarh Tikamgarh is a Census town#India, town and a tehsil in Tikamgarh district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The city serves as a district headquarters. The earlier name of Tikamgarh was Tehri (i.e., a triangle) consisting of three hamlet ...

Chhatarpur Chhatarpur is a city and a municipality in Chhatarpur district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Chhatarpur District. Chhatarpur is a city and a municipality in Chhatarpur district in the state of ...

. This place is famous for Jain Temple.

Aharji Jain Teerth

Aharji is a place full of natural attractive beauty. It is famous for the miraculous colossus of Lord (

Shantinath Shantinatha was the sixteenth Jain tirthankar of the present age (Avasarpini). Shantinatha was born to King Vishvasena and Queen Aiira at Hastinapur in the Ikshvaku dynasty. His birth date is the thirteenth day of the Jyest Krishna month of the ...

) in standing (Khadagasana) posture. It is 18 feet in height. The main temple is famous for beautiful monumental image of Lord Shatinath from the

Chandella The Chandelas of Jejakabhukti was an Indian dynasty in Central India. The Chandelas ruled much of the Bundelkhand region (then called ''Jejakabhukti'') between the 9th and the 13th centuries. They belonged to the Chandel (Rajput clan), Chandel c ...

period. It has an inscription on it of 1180 AD (

Vikram Samvat Vikram Samvat (IAST: ''Vikrama Samvat''; abbreviated VS) or Bikram Sambat B.S. and also known as the Vikrami calendar, is a Hindu calendar historically used in the Indian subcontinent. Vikram Samvat is generally 57 years ahead of Gregorian Calend ...

1237). It was the last major temple to be built here in the Chandella period. Several other smaller temples were built here at the same time as the main temple. Excavations have found a large number of Jain images that were installed here during 954 to 1275 AD (Samvat 1011 to Samvat 1332), spanning the reigns of six Chandella rulers. This was a major Jain center during the Chandella period. The inscriptions give the names of 32 separate Jain communities that had built these temples, including

Golapurva Golapurva is an ancient Jain community from the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh. History Jainism had a continuous presence in the Bundelkhand region since antiquity. Jainism was flourishing during the Gupta period at Vidisha region. The D ...

, Parwar,

Khandelwal Khandelwal may refer to: * Khandelwal communities ** Khandelwal Vaishya, a Vaishnav Vaish trading community originally from Khandela. ** Khandelwal Jain or Sarawagi The Sarawagi or Saraogi or Sarawgi Jain community, meaning a Jain Śrāvaka, is ...

Golalare Golalare (Sanskrit गोलाराडे, Hindi गोलालारे ) is a Jain community of Bhadawar and Bundelkhand region in India. Their original center is the Bhind-Etawah region on the banks of the Chambal river. Some of them have ...

, Jaiswal etc. ;Shantinath image inscription The Shantinath image has a long inscription on it that mentions that two brothers, Jahad and Udaichandra, belonging to the

Grahapati Gahoi is a merchant Vaishya-Baniya community in central India. Gahois are divided into 12 gotras, each gotra is divided into six ''all''s. They have traditionally interdined with the Parwar Jain community of Bundelkhand. The "Grahapati" family ...

community, built the temple during the rule of Chandella ruler Paramardhi, who is well known as Raja Parmal in the popular ballad Alha-Khand. They were the descendants of the builders of the Sahasrakuta temple at Banpur. The image was carved by a sculptor name Papat. Trivedi mentions that several Chandella inscriptions mentioning the

individuals have been found, and that they were noted for their significance and donations.

Location

The place is located in Taluka – Baldeogarh, District – Tikamgarh,

, about 25 km from Tikamgarh. The management committee is Shri Digamber Jain Siddha Kshetra Aharji Prabandhakarini Samiti, Nearby Cities include

and

References

External links

Shri Aharji Teerth
Shri Aharji Teerth
AAHARJI, M. P.
AAHARJI, M. P. {{Jainism Topics History of Madhya Pradesh Tikamgarh Jain temples in Madhya Pradesh 12th-century Jain temples Tourist attractions in Tikamgarh district

Aharji Jain Teerth

Location

See also

References

External links