Maksi

For the village in Bhopal district, see Maksi, Bhopal.

Maksi
city
Maksi Jain temple
Maksi Location in Madhya Pradesh, India Show map of Madhya Pradesh Maksi Maksi (India) Show map of India
Coordinates: 23°16′N76°09′E / 23.27°N 76.15°E / 23.27; 76.15
Country	India
State	Madhya Pradesh
District	Shajapur
Elevation	480 m (1,570 ft)
Population  (2001)
• Total	98,392
Languages
• Official	Hindi
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
Telephone code	07363

Maksi is a city and a municipality in Shajapur district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is famous for Jain Temple of Maksi Parshwanathh Ji. Maksi has an ever buzzing market which is famous for sweet samosas.

Geography

Maksi is located at 23°16′N76°09′E / 23.27°N 76.15°E / 23.27; 76.15 . ^[1] It has an average elevation of 480  metres (1574  feet).

Demographics

As of 2011 ^[update] India census, ^[2] Maksi had a population of 98,392. Male constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Maksi has an average literacy rate of 63%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 73%, and female literacy is 53%. In Maksi, 17% of the population is under six years of age. Maksi is famous for the holy Jain Temple Shri Makshi Parshvanath the 23 thirthankar of Jain religion.

Jain Pilgrimage

Shri Digamber and Shwetambar Jain tirth (holy place) at Maksi is an ancient place of pilgrimage. ^[3] There are two ancient temples here. First is the big temple called Bada Mandir is of Shwetambar sect, where the principal deity is Lord Parsvanath. This idol is supposed to be more than 2500 years old. According to archaeologists the temple itself is approximately 1000 years old. 42 idols installed by Jivaraj Papriwal in year 1491 (1548 V.S.) can also be found here. Second temple is of digambar sect shri suprshwanath bhagwan. In bada mandir or Shwetambar mandir the principle deity is also worshipped by digambar sect from 6:00 to 9:00 daily. After then, Shwetambar can worship by their own method. Temples such as Kesariyaji are also worshipped as per both Digambara tradition and Śvētāmbara tradition. ^[4]

Maksi Prashvnath is considered to be a holy place for Jains. It's one amongst the 108 Parshvnaths of Jains. Behind the bada mandir, there is a beautiful garden where there are 4 shrines. This garden also has a big stepwell. People believe that idol of lord parshwanath was found from this stepwell.^{[ citation needed ]}

Maksi is also famous for its singing group Maksi Mandal. It is owned by Mr. Shantilal Kothari, who is a famous singer of Malwa Region of Madhya Pradesh for old Jain Stavans. He started the group 30 years ago and dedicates all his Stavans to Lord Parsvanath.^{[ citation needed ]}

Transportation

Maksi is located on Agra-Mumbai Road. It has direct train connections to Ujjain, Dewas, Bhopal, and Ruthiyai.

References

1. Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Maksi
2. "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
3. "Shri Dig. Jain Atishaya Kshetra Maksi Parsvanath | JainTeerth.com". jainteerth.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013.
4. Carrithers, Michael; Humphrey, Caroline (4 April 1991). The Assembly of Listeners: Jains in Society. Cambridge University Press. p. 223. ISBN   9780521365055.