Navagarh Tirth

Jain Atishaya Kshetra Navagarh
Jain Atishaya Kshetra Navagarh
नवागढ
	Lord Aranatha in Navagarh Bhonyra, Chandella Period
Religion
Affiliation	Jainism
Deity	Aranatha
Festivals	Mahavir Jayanti
Location
Location	Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh
Geographic coordinates	24.556°N 78.935°E
Architecture
Date established	12th century
Temple(s)	1

Navagarh is a Jain Tirth (pilgrimage site for Jainism) in India. It is located at the Nabai village near Sojna in central India in Uttar Pradesh, just across the border from Madhya Pradesh. It is 65 km east from Lalitpur and 110 km north from Sagar. This ancient cite was excavated in 1959. It is the only tirth in India where the main deity is the ancient image of Lord Aranatha, preserved in the ancient underground chamber.

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Navagarh Tirth

Thumb — Sojna Stambhas with Upadhyaya images

Navagarh is a place full of natural attractive beauty being surrounded by rocky wilderness. It is famous for the exceptionally crafted life size image of Lord (Aranatha) in standing (Kayotsarga) posture.^[1]^[2] It is in the Chandela style and finely polished. It does not have an inscription, but a fragment of a Shantinatha image from the same chamber has the date samvat 1202.

There are nearby prehistoric rock shelters where Jain monks used to meditate. Some of them contain prehistoric drawings.

Discovery and development

In 1940s the site was noted as a collection of ruined sculptures and a set of columns inscribed with Samvat 1203 in a nearby village.^[3] There was a platform under a tree with a large number of ancient Jain historical relics. It was explored by Pt. Gulabchandra Pushpa, an Ayurvedic physician (later famous as a Pratishthacharya) while visiting nearby Mainwar village. The exploration yielded the image of Lord Arnath in an underground chamber, along with a number of intact as well as damages idols. In 1959, systematic development was initiated with the advice of note Jain archaeology expert Niraj Jain of Satna. Since the spot was in a forest, it was proposed that the main image should be transported to nearby town, however it was opposed by local villagers. In 1990, an initial structure was built with a boundary wall. Gajrath festivals organized in 1985 and 2011.

It was decided that the image of Lord Arnath should be kept in the same underground chamber (Bhonyra) which was accessible only though narrow staircases. A spacious chamber was excavated in front of the bhonyra allowing a large space for the worshippers.

The tirth has been visited by Acharyas Vidyasagar, Vardhmansagar, Devnandi, Padmanandi, Viragsagar, Gyansagar, Vishuddhasagar, vibhavasagar as well as a number of other munis and aryikas.

Historical statues and inscriptions

In addition to the bhonyra, the compound includes two additional shrines with modern and ancient images and a sangrahalaya, where a large number of historical idols and fragments are preserved. These include idols of Lord Adinath and Lord Parshvanath from early middle age (500-1000 AD).^[4] Lower fragment of a finely polished black schist Mahavira image dated samvat 1195 (1138 AD) mentions Golapurva Mahichandra, his son Delhan and their family members. Four columns dated samvat 1202 once reused in a reservoir at Sojna are also preserved.

Development

The tirth has been developed by Pt. Gulabchandra Pushpa, who has served as a Pratishthacharya for numerous Jain temple installations,^[5] and is now overseen by his son Br. Jaikumar Jain Nishant, who is also a noted Pratishthacharya.^[6]