Gajpanth

Gajpanth (also spelled Gajpantha) is a Digambar Jain pilgrimage site (Siddha-kshetra) located in Mhasrul village, in the Nashik district of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It's managed and maintained by Registered Trust No. A-193/NSK.

Gajpanth
Distant view of Gajpanth Digambar Jain Siddhakshetra (Trust No. A-193/NSK)
Religion
Affiliation	Jainism
Deity	Parshvanatha
Location
Location	Nashik, Maharashtra
Gajpanth
Geographic coordinates	20.0630539°N 73.7924618°E / 20.0630539; 73.7924618
Specifications
Temple(s)	6
Elevation	122 m (400 ft)
Website
https://gajpantha.com

Geography

The pilgrimage is located in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is 16 km (10 mi) from the Nashik Road Railway station and 5 km (3 mi) from Nashik City,[1][2] and is situated on the steep slopes of a 400-foot-high (122 m) hill. The pilgrimage site is accessible via a staircase built in black stone, which leads directly to the temple.[3] The hill has 450 steps, three caves (known as 'chamar leni'), and several temples belonging to the Digambara sect of the Jains. There is also a sculpture depicting samavasarana (divine preaching hall of tirthankara) on the hills of Gajpanth.

History

Gajpanth is said to be the salvation place of seven Balabhadra (heroes) of the Jain Universal history, known as Vijay, Achal, Sudharma, Suprabh, Nandi, Nandimitra and Sudarshan. It is believed that the saints took eight crores (80 million) of Yadav kings with them from this location to salvation,[4] and that many Jain monks (or sadhus) attained moksha from this hill.[3]

• 
  Dharmachakra Jain temple

See also

• Mangi-Tungi

References

1. Titze, Kurt; Bruhn, Klaus (1998), Jainism, p. 81, ISBN 9788120815346
2. "Doc firm on Santhara despite HC ban: I too want a beautiful death", The Indian Express
3. "Gajpantha Jain Temple", www.digambarjainonline.com, archived from the original on 27 April 2016, retrieved 13 January 2016
4. "Gajpantha", Jain Heritage Centres, archived from the original on 8 December 2015, retrieved 30 November 2015