45. Kalhara Parshwanath

Shrimali pole . Bharuch

Mulnayak: Mulnayak is Shri Munisuvrat Swami Bhagwan. Nearly 88 cms. high white – coloured
idol of Bhagwan Kalhara Parshvanath in the Padmasana posture. This idol is beside the idol of
Shri Munisuvrat Swami Bhagwan. 

Tirth: It is in Shrimali Pole in Bharuch on the banks of river Narmada.

Historicity: Bharuch is a very ancient city and pilgrimage centre. In ancient times, it was very
famous by the name of "Bhrugupur" or "Bhrugukutch". Bharuch is a port and in olden days it was a
famous trade centre. Due to its import and export trade, this city became very prosperous. Eleven
and a half lakhs of years ago, Shri Munisuvrat Swami, the 20th Thirthankara came on foot covering
a distance of 240 miles to Bharuch to give sermons to a horse. The Brahmins had readied this
horse for their Ashvamegha Yagna. On hearing the words of Bhagwan Munisuvrat Swami, the
horse died peacefully forgetting all his enemity towards other living creatures and asking
forgiveness from all. He was born as a Dev in Devaloka. In remembrance of his last birth, he built a
beautiful temple there and installed the idol of Munisuvrat Bhagwan in it. This temple came to be
known as "Ashvavabodh Tirth". Princess Sudarshana was the daughter of king Sihal of Sihaldvip.
One day, on hearing someone chanting Namaskar Mahamantra she got "Jati Smaran Gyan"
meaning she remembered her past birth where she was an eagle. She was on her deathbed and
a Jain monk had chanted the Navkar Mantra to her and she was born as the princess. Later on,
Princess Sudarshana renovated this Ashvavabodh Tirth and this temple came to be known as
"Shakunika Vihar". In course of time, many renovations were done to this temple. Shantu Mehta
decorated this temple with a Golden Kalash. Minister Ambad spent 32 lakh gold coins and
renovated this temple and the idols were installed by the revered hands of Kalikal Sarvagya Shri
Hemchandracharya. The Aarti done by Maharaja Kumarpal in this temple became very famous
and is known as "Maharaja Kumarpal ki Aarti". Many more splendid temples were built here.
During the Muslim rule, many of these temples were converted into mosques. Even today, there
are 9 ancient temples in Bharuch. This temple was renovated some years ago and this new
splendid three-storied temple was built. The idol was re-installed by the revered hands of Acharya
Shri Rajyashsurishvarji on the 13th day of the bright half of the month of Magh in the year 2045 of
the Vikram era. This ancient and alluring idol of Kalhara Parshvanath is also popularly known as
"Kalyan Parshvanath". Shri Nyayvijayji has named this Parshvanath as "Shri Yashodhara
Parshvanath".
Shri Bhaktamar Bhavya Mandir: The first extremely beautiful Bhaktamar temple in India was built
in Bharuch. In the sanctuary, there is an idol of Acharya Shri Mantungasurishvarji, the creator of
the Bhaktamar Stotra, caught in iron chains. Moreover, there are idols of Marudevamata, Bharat
Maharaja, Labdhisuri Maharaj Saheb and Vikramsuriji Maharaj Saheb. In this temple in the cellar,
there are depictions, of the 44 glorious gathas of the Bhaktamar Stotra. Symbolic of the 44 gathas
of the Bhaktamar stotra, its yantras and paintings are depicted . In this temple, there is a 51 feet
high, ancient idol of Mulnayak Adinath Bhagwan.

Other Temples: There are 11 other temples in Bharuch.

Works of art and Sculpture: Since this is an ancient city, ancient sculptural art is seen
everywhere. Its gate is extremely splendid. On the first floor there is the idol of Mulnayak
Munisuvrat Swami and beside it is the idol of Kalhara Parshvanath. On the second floor, there is
the idol of Sahastrafana Parshvanath Bhagwan. There is also a 127 cms. high black-coloured idol
of Munisuvrat Swami Bhagwan standing in the Kausagg posture.

Guidelines: This tirth is on the main Bombay-Ahmedabad railway line. The temple is at a distance
of 2 kms. from the railway station. Bharuch is well connected to all cities of Gujarat by rail and
road. Bus service and private vehicles are available here. Dharamshala and Bhojanshala facilities
are available here. There is an Ayambilshala also. Kavi, Gandhar, Dahej, Jambusar are nearby
pilgrim centres. There is a beautiful and splendid temple in Vejalpur and Kabirpura which are close
by from here.

Scripture: A mention of Kalhara Parshvanath is made in "Shri Bhateva Parshvanath Stavan", in"108 Naam Garbhit Shri Parshvanath Stavan", in "Shri Parshvanath Naam Mala", in "TirthMala", in
"Shri Parshvanath Sankhya Stavan" etc. Shri Gyanvimalji has written a stavan on Shri Kalhara
Parshvanath. A mention of Bharuch Tirth is made in “Shri Jagchintamani Chaityavandan”.
1.There is an ancient temple of Kalhara Parshvanath in Jainabad in Dasada Taluk of Saurashtra.
The ancient name of this village was “Kalhara” and this village is believed to be around 1,000 years
old. Later on, this village came to be known as “Jainabad”. The present temple is believed to be
more than 125 years old. It is believed that there were many jain temples here even before this
temple was built. This idol of Kalhara Parshvanath is very miraculous. Miracles keep happening
here. Many years back, the people of the village saw a bright light in the night near the temple. The
light was seen upto the Shikar of the temple. Images of two people were seen in this bright light.
These two people did the Pradakshina of the temple and disappeared. This incident was seen by
the whole village. During the night, music and the ringing of the bells coming from the temple is
heard. “Kesar Varsha” also keeps happening here, especially when a “Charipali Sangh” comes
here Kesar Varsha definitely happens.

Trust: Shri Munisuvrat Swami Shwetambar Jain Derasar Pedhi, Shri Kalhara Parshvanath
Shwetambar Jain Tirth, Shrimalipole, Bharuch – 392 001. State: Gujarat, India.
Phone: 02641 – 570641.

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ગુજરાતના ભરૂચ શહેરમાં શ્રીમાળી પોળ માં શ્રી કલહારા પાર્શ્વનાથ પ્રભુનું મુખ્ય જિનાલય આવેલું છે. ભરૂચના પ્રાચીન નામો ભૃગુ કચ્છ કે ભૃગુપુર હતા. આ ઘણી પ્રાચીન ભૂમિ છે. ભરૂચ રેલવે સ્ટેશનથી દોઢેક કિ.મી.ના અંતરે આવેલો છે. રસ્તા માર્ગે પણ ગુજરાતના અનેક શહેરો સાથે સંકળાયેલું છે.ભરૂચની પવિત્ર ભૂમિ વ્રજસ્વામી,શ્રી બપ્પભટ્ટીસૂરિજી, શ્રી કાલિકાચાર્ય, શ્રી મલ્લવાદીસૂરિ, શ્રી પાદલિપ્તસૂરિ, હેમચંદ્રાચાર્ય, શ્રી વિજયસેનસૂરિ સહિત મહાન અને પ્રભાવક જૈનાચાર્યોના પદાર્પણ થી પાવન થઈ છે. આ તીર્થના જીર્ણોદ્ધાર માં આચાર્ય ભગવંત શ્રી વિક્રમસૂરીશ્વરજી મહારાજા વગેરે ઊંડો રસ લીધો હતો. આ તીર્થની આજુબાજુમાં વેજલપુર, કબીરપુરાકાવી,ગાંધાર, દહેજ, જંબુસર વગેરેમાં ભવ્ય જિનાલયો આવેલા છે. અહીં ધર્મશાળા, ભોજનશાળા ની ઉત્તમ સગવડ છે. કલહારા આ પાર્શ્વનાથનું બીજું તીર્થ પાટડી નજીકમાં આવેલ છે. જૈનાબાદ ખાતે છે.વીસમાં તીર્થંકર ભગવંત શ્રી મુનિસુવ્રત સ્વામીના સમયમાં બ્રાહ્મણોએ અશ્વમેઘ યજ્ઞ માટે એક અસ્વ તૈયાર કર્યો. તે અશ્વ્ તીર્થંકર પ્રભુ ના ઉપદેશથી પ્રતિબોધ પામ્યો. તે અશ્વ શુભ ભાવમાં પોતાનું ચિત્ત સેવીને મૃત્યુ પામ્યો. અને દેવ બન્યો. તે દેવે પોતાના પરમ ઉપકારી પ્રભુનું જિનાલય બંધાવ્યુ. તે જિનાલય અશ્વાવબૌદ્ધ તીર્થ તરીકે ખ્યાતિ પામ્યુ. સિંહલદ્વીપમાં સિંહલ રાજાની કુંવરી સુદર્શનાએ જાતિસ્મરણ જ્ઞાનમાં પોતાનો પૂર્વ નો સમડી નો ભવ જોયો તેથી અશ્વાવબૌદ્ધ ચૈતન્યનો ઉદ્ધાર કરાવ્યો. તેને શકુનિકા વિહાર નામ આપ્યું. ત્યાર પછી તો આ તીર્થના અનેકવાર જીર્ણોદ્ધાર થતા રહ્યા છે. વિમલભાઈ ધામી લેખિત સુદર્શના પુસ્તકમાં વિસ્તૃત માહિતી કથાનક રૂપે અપાયેલ છે.શાંતનુ મહેતાએ આ તીર્થ પર સુવર્ણનો કળશ પ્રસ્થાપિત કર્યો હતો.અંબડ નામના મંત્રીએ આ જિનપ્રાસાદ પાછળ બત્રીસ લાખ સોનૈયાઓ નો સદુપયોગ કરીને કાષ્ઠ જિનાલયને પાષાણમય બનાવ્યું હતું. કલિકાલસર્વજ્ઞ હેમચંદ્રાચાર્યના વરદ હસ્તે તેની પ્રાણપ્રતિષ્ઠા થઈ હતી. તેમ જ મહારાજા કુમારપાળે અહીં ઉતારેલી આરતી અમરતાને પામી હતી.તેજપાળ મંત્રીએ આ જિનાલયની 25 દેવકુલિકાઓની સુવર્ણ ધજાથી વિભૂષિત કરી હતી. તે સિવાય અન્ય ભવ્ય જિનાલયનું પણ અહીં નિર્માણ થયું છે. મુસ્લિમ કાળમાં અનેક જિનાલયોનો નાશ થયો હતો તેમાંના કેટલાક મસ્જિદમાં રૂપાંતર થઈ ગયા છે. ભરૂચમાં આજે પ્રાચીન 9 જિનાલયો છે.

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