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| Agrawal Jain | |
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| Religions | Jainism |
| Languages | Haryanvi, Hindi, Rajasthani |
| Populated states | Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan |
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Agrawal Jains are an Indian Jain community who originated from Agroha near Hisar, Haryana. In Sanskrit inscriptions and texts, the community is termed Agrotakanvaya.
According to texts from the Mughal period preserved in Delhi temple libraries, the emergence of the Agrawals is associated with Lohacharya and the Kashtha Sangh. Lohacharya arrived at Agroha in Vikram Samvat 760. He was given food by the local people and he founded the Kashtha Sangh order by installing a wooden idol. The Kashtha Sangh religious order has thus been closely associated with the Agrawal community.[ citation needed ]
According to some legends, Agrawals were once ruled by a Raja Divakar who was a devout Jain.[ citation needed ]
The Agrawal merchant Nattal Sahu and the Agrawal poet Vibudh Shridhar lived during the rule of Tomara Anangapal of Yoginipur (now Mehrauli, near Delhi). [1] Vibudh Shridhar wrote Pasanahacariu in 1132, which includes a historical account of Yoginipur (early Delhi near Mehrauli) then.
In 1354, Firuz Shah Tughluq started the construction of a new city near Agroha called Hisar-e Feroza "Firuz's Fort". Most of the raw material for building the town was brought from Agroha. [2] Hisar was a major center of the Agrawal community.
Some Agrawals rose to good positions in Mughal period, specially during Akbar. Sahu Todar was a supervisor of the royal mint at Agra, who had rebuilt the 514 Jain stupas at Mathura in 1573, during the rule of Akbar. [3]
Sah Ranveer Singh was a royal treasurer during the rule of Akbar. He established the town Saharanpur. His father as well as son and grandson had built several Jain temples, [3] including the one at Kucha Sukhanand in Delhi.
Many Agrawals migrated to Rajasthan. They form a large fraction of the merchant population of Shekhawati region. Along with Maheshwari, Khandelwal they form the Marwari bania community.[ citation needed ]
In the early 15th century, Agrawals flourished as a trader community under the Tomaras of Gwalior. [4] [ page needed ]
Historian K.C. Jain comments:
Golden Age of the Jain Digambar Church in Gwalior under the Tomara rulers inspired by the Kashtha Bhattarakas and their Jain Agrawal disciples who dominated the Court of father and son viz. Dungar Singh (1425-59)and Kirti Singh (1459-80) with the Poet-Laureate Raighu as their mouthpiece and spokesman, a centenarian author of as many as thirty books, big and small of which two dozen are reported to be extant today. Verify the advent of the Hisar-Firuza-based Jain Agrawals who functioned as the ministers and treasurers of the ruling family had turned the Rajput State of Gwalior into a Digambara Jain Centre par excellence representing the culture of the Agrawal multi-millionner shravakas as sponsored by them. [4]
In the 15th century, many Agrawals migrated to Amer kingdom (now Jaipur). In VS 1535, Agrawal Nenasi conducted a Panch-kalyanak Pratishtha ceremony at Sanganer. [5] [ page needed ] A copy of Amarsen Chariu copied in VS 1577 at Sonipat was found at Amer, suggesting that Agrawals took sacred texts with them during this migration. [6] [ page needed ]
Seth Girdhari Lal, the son of Raja Shugan Chand, founded the organization Hissar Panipat Agarwal Jain Panchayat. It is now known as Prachin (i.e. old) Shri Agarwal Digambar Jain Panchayat. [7] It is the oldest Agrawal Jain organization. It has been led by descendants of same family. [8] The organization manages the historical Naya Mandir as well as the Lal Mandir.
The Panchayat has been active in promoting unity among Jains of different sectarian backgrounds. [9]
Agrawal is a Hindu Bania community. Agrawals are Kshatriya but after the adoption of Vanika dharma by their ancestor Maharaja Agrasen they started follow Vaishya tradition. The Banias of northern India are really a cluster of several communities, of which the Agarwal Banias, Maheshwari Banias, Oswal Banias, and Porwal Banias are mentioned separately in connection with certain They are found throughout northern and central India, mainly in the states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and kashmir, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. They are also found in Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sindh, though at the time of the partition of India, most of them migrated across the newly created border to independent India. The majority religions followed by the Agrawals include Vaishnava Hinduism and Jainism.
A Bhaṭṭāraka heads traditional Digambara Jain institutions. He is responsible for training scholars, maintenance of libraries, managing endowments, presiding over installation ceremonies and running Jain institutions.
Delhi is an ancient centre of Jainism, home to over 165 Jain temples. Delhi has a large population of Jains spread all over the city. It has had continued presence of a Jain community throughout its history, and it is still a major Jain centre.
Shri Digambar Jain Lal Mandir is the oldest and best-known Jain temple in Delhi, India. It is directly across from the Red Fort in the historical Chandni Chowk area.
Kashtha Sangha was a Digambar Jain monastic order once dominant in several regions of North and Western India. It is considered to be a branch of Mula Sangh itself. It is said to have originated from a town named Kashtha.
Nattal Sahu of Yoginipur is the earliest known Agrawal Jain merchant-prince, who lived during the reign Tomara king, Anangapal. His life's account is described in Apabhramsha text Pasanaha Cariu of poet Vibudh Shridhar, written in Vikrama Samvat 1189.
Vibudh Shridhar or Vibudha Shridhara was an accomplished Apabhramsha writer and poet in North India. He is the first known Agrawal Jain author. His Pasanaha Chariu provides the first reference to the Jain community and the first historical reference to the legend of the origin of the name Dhilli for Delhi.
Jivaraja Paprival was the installer of as many as 100,000 Jain images in the 15th century, now found in Jain temples all over India. He was a trader in the town of Modasa believed to be in Gujarat. He was probably born in Surat, Gujarat.
Raidhu was an Apabhramsha poet from Gwalior, and an important figure in the Digambara Jain community. He supervised the pratishtha consecration ceremony of many—perhaps most—of the Jain idols carved on the hill side in the Gwalior Fort during the rule of Tomara rulers Dungarasimha and Kirtisimha.
Raja Harsukh Rai the chief of the Agrawal community, and a builder of several Jain temples in and around Delhi, was the imperial treasurer during Sam. 1852-Sam. 1880.
Naya Mandir is a historic Jain temple in Old Delhi in India, in the Dharampura locality allocated to the Jain community by Aurangzeb.
Anangpal II, popularly known as Anangpal Tomar, was an Indian ruler from the Tomara dynasty. He is known to have established and populated Delhi in the 11th century. He is often confused with Anangpal I, the founder of Tomar Dynasty of Delhi, who had reigned during the 8th century. He traced the lineage to Chandravanshi Kshatriya kings, namely Arjuna from the epic Mahabharata.
Vidyadhar Pasusa Johrapurkar is a Sanskritist, social anthropologist and historian. His name is sometimes spelt as Vidyadhar Pasusa Joharapurkar. He specializes in Jainism and Jain philosophy.
Agroha is a Hindu temple complex in Agroha of Hisar District, Haryana, India. Construction started in 1976 and was completed in 1984. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Mahalakshmi.
Jainism is an Indian religion which is traditionally believed to be propagated by twenty-four spiritual teachers known as tirthankara. Broadly, Jainism is divided into two major schools of thought, Digambara and Śvetāmbara. These are further divided into different sub-sects and traditions. While there are differences in practices, the core philosophy and main principles of each sect is the same.
Ancient idols of Jain Tirthankara were found in archaeological expeditions in Badli, Bhiwani, Dadri, Gurgaon, Hansi, Hisar (Agroha), Kasan, Nahad, Narnaul, Pehowa, Rewari, Rohad, Rohtak and Sonepat in Haryana. Agrawal Jain community traces its origins from Hisar. Guptisagar Dham Tirtha at Ganaur is a religious tourist spot in Haryana. It is named after the Jain Acharya Guptisagar.
Ahinsa Sthal is a Jain temple located in Mehrauli, Delhi. The main deity of the temple is Mahavira, the 24th and last Tirthankara of Avasarpiṇī. A magnificent statue of Tirthankara Mahāvīra is installed here.
Nainagiri is a major pilgrimage site for Jainism in India. It is located in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, it is 12 km from Dalpatpur and 25 km from Bukswaha. This tirth, also known as Reshandigiri, is a Siddha Kshetra where five ancient saints including Varadatta had attained nirvana.
The Tomaras of Gwalior were a Rajput dynasty who ruled the Gwalior Fort and its surrounding region in central India during 14th–16th centuries. They are known for their patronage to the cultural activities in Gwalior.
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