Talk:Parshvanath Jain temples, Varanasi

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Article re-write

Hi,

Having just re-read Kipling's Kim (for the umpteenth time!) I was curious to know a little more of "the Temple of the Tirthankers, Benares". Unfortunately, I found the article a bit lacking in detail, and also unclear in parts, partly because of the idiosyncratic English. NB: I have no "second language" worth mentioning, so please don't think I'm criticising the original author's effort - I could not do nearly so well in another tongue! :-) Anyway, consulting the two available online references given, & some scrubbing around on wiki, I've attempted to improve it a bit. Although there's little in the way of extra information, hopefully someone can confirm / clarify any alterations I've made, and then update the article. The cut&paste process has not preserved any of the original hyperlinks, be it noted, and the My Footnotes section below is obviously not intended for publication - it's my clarifications & remaining queries.

History

Built in 1824, there are two adjacent temples dedicated to Parshvanath at this site, Digambar & Svetambar. A significant difference between the two is that the centrepiece of the former is a 75cm high black idol, whilst the latter^ has a 60cm high white idol.[2] It is located in Bhelapur about 5km from the center of Varanasi, and 3km from the Benares Hindu University. It is open between 12PM & 9PM, for those wishing to visit, and an online Varanasi directory suggests that the first week in January is the best time to visit (although it doesn't say why).[2]

Varanasi is reputed to be the birthplace of Parshvanath, the 23rd Thirthankara, and also of Suparshvanatha [hyperlink to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suparshvanatha], the 7th. The Svetambara sect of Jainism worship at the temple of the white idol, whilst the Digambara principally use that containing the black idol. The site, as a whole, is a holy tirtha or pilgrimage centre for Jains.[3]%

The temple is referred to more than once in the works of Rudyard Kipling [hyperlink?], most notably in his novel Kim [hyperlink?], which a main character, the Buddhist Teshoo Lama, makes his base for several years whilst Kim is not with him.

My Footnotes:

First, I have no access to reference 1, and therefore no idea what, in the article, is drawn from it. My revision is purely concerned with the History section of the article and, except where noted, I assume everything else remains the same. Above, I therefore use the same reference numbering as the current article.

^ The picture currently on the page seems to be of the second white idol & should be captioned appropriately. A picture of the first black idol is online at reference [2]. I have no idea how photo copyright works, but perhaps a copy of this could be included in the article with an approriate caption?

% The final para of the current article is somewhat unclear. The article as a whole makes no reference to the presence of two adjacent temples, whilst ref's 2 & 3 clearly do. Moreover, the statement that the temple “belongs to the Svetambara” is flatly contradicted elsewhere on wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varanasi#Temples), which says it belongs to the Digambara! I presume that each of the temples belongs to the appropriate sect, but as there is no specific citation for either statement, I cannot verify this.

Finally, I have completely removed part of the first sentence of the final paragraph, “hence, a place for 4 kalyanak - Chyavan, Janm, Deeksha & Kevalgyan.”, as it makes little sense to someone uninitiated, such as me! I would be happy to see it reinstated, if someone can explain it – it appears to relate to the first 4 “auspicious events” listed here, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panch_Kalyanaka, but it may need some some clarification. I'm guessing that an additional sentence could be added to the 2nd para above (after the [3] citation, as it is not directly drawn from that) - "The temples are held to be an ideal place for the first 4 of the "5 Auspicious Events" [hyperlink to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panch_Kalyanaka as "Kalyanaka").

Hope this helps!

Regards,

5.81.125.131 (talk) 18:36, 5 April 2017 (UTC) Rædwulf (non-member)[reply]