Sandeep Parswanath@sarpame
A Hindu Saint Sitaram Das Nirmohi has openly challenged the Jains , saying come to Girinar if you can !
Jains have accepted the challenge and 19-20 July — Save the Tirth movement starting from Ramlila Maidan, Delhi to Girinar is announced .
This how Jains have to respond to threat after hindus have captured the holy site of girinar.
let's know it's story.
Girinar specific 5th peak (Neminath Shikhara) has documented Jain history going back centuries as Neminath’s moksha site, footprints worshipped by Jain ascetics.
James Burgess, a British archaeologist who surveyed Girnar extensively in the late 19th century, documented that these temples are all Jain — built by Jain merchants & maintained by Jain communities for centuries.He recorded inscriptions commemorating donation by Jain shravakas
The British-era ASI Annual Reports and Gazetteers of Kathiawad and Bombay Presidency clearly record: The temple of Neminath is the principal shrine on the hill and belongs to the Jain sect.
Epigraphical Records Indicate Jain Endowment: Inscriptions dating from the 11th–12th century CE, cataloged by the British ASI, mention Jain donors and specific Jain rituals:
In the reign of King Kumarpala, the temple of Neminatha was restored by Jain Acharyas.
Gazetteer & Government Documentation : “The Bombay Presidency Gazetteer (1879) clearly mentions that Girnar is an ancient pilgrimage site for Digambar Jains. Jain pilgrimages end at Tonk on the 5th.”
Until early 2000s: The footprints existed as ancient stone engravings. Jains worshipped them quietly (in line with their tradition of simple veneration). Official records and pilgrim accounts describe it primarily as a Jain moksha bhoomi. Hindus had broader mythological reverence for Girnar/Dattatreya, but no documented major structures, idols, or exclusive worship rights at the exact 5th peak.
2004 — The flashpoint: This is when the active, documented Hindu claim began in its current form. Hindu mahants/pandas installed an idol of Lord Dattatreya near the footprints and built a new shrine/canopy surrounding them. This led to immediate clashes, police complaints from both Religions, and the dispute going public. Jains describe this as illegal encroachment altering the site’s character.
The issue escalated into court cases (petitions from 2013 onward, fresh HC notice in 2024). Organized “Dattatreya Girnar yatras” (subsidized/free group pilgrimages) gained momentum in the last decade . The Gujarat High Court is still hearing the Jain petitions for primary worship rights and removal of allegedly illegal structures.
It's the right time to remember Virchand Raghavji Gandhi, defender of Jain tirthas against encroachments, taxes, or desecration. Girnar (especially the Neminath-related sites) falls under the same tradition of Jain advocacy for historical pilgrimage rights. Modern Jain campaigns for the 5th peak often invoke this legacy of peaceful, evidence-based assertion of Jain heritage at ancient sites.
