Idol worship:Jain Agamas give no reference to moorthis in poojas or even temples

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temples with moortis

" Y. Malaiya " <malaiya

Thu, 15 Jan 1998 10:09:05

Sender: malaiya

 

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 " <malaiya