Ancient Jain Temple In Anjad Preserves 78 Rare Manuscripts In Khetia

Khetia (Madhya Pradesh): An ancient Jain temple in Anjad is preserving a remarkable treasure of India’s knowledge heritage through a rare manuscript collection.

The Bhagwan Shri Parshvanath Digambar Jain Temple houses 78 rare manuscripts written in Prakrit, Sanskrit, Hindi and Tamil, along with inscriptions on copper plates, making it an important repository of spiritual and historical knowledge.

Members of the District Level Gyan Bharatam Committee, including Dr Antim Maurya and Dr Madhusudan Choubey, along with workers of the Swami Vivekananda Career Guidance Cell, recently visited the temple to examine the manuscripts. Temple committee members Dharmendra Jain, Jugalkishore Patni, Sureshchandra Jain and Sushil Kumar Jain presented the collection to the visiting team.

The manuscripts include significant works such as Bhagwati Aaradhana, Chandraprabha Kavya, Mahapadma Purana, Ratnakaranda Shravakachar, Pandava Purana and Jambu Charitra, among others. According to Dharmendra Jain, the texts cover Jain philosophy, spiritual discipline, moral education, life stories of Tirthankaras, and also present the Ramayana and Mahabharata from a Jain perspective.

A women’s group of the temple society has played a key role in preservation. Members, including Sapna Jain, Saroj Patni, Meena Jain and Kalpana Jain regularly clean, maintain and safeguard the manuscripts.

Experts Dr Maurya and Dr Choubey stated that these manuscripts are living records of ancient language, literature and culture, revealing lesser-known aspects of regional and Indian history.

Under the Gyan Bharatam campaign in Barwani district, led by Collector Jayati Singh and nodal officer Deputy Collector Shakti Singh Chauhan, 42 manuscripts have already been uploaded on the Government of India’s Gyan Bharatam portal, with documentation work continuing steadily