Sanawad (Madhya Pradesh): Narmada, the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh, remains a witness to various cultures. In front of the Jyotirlinga pilgrimage of Vedic culture, Omkareshwar, is the Shramana Digambar Jain culture temple Sidhwarkut.
The history of this pilgrimage is 30,000 years old. Situated at the confluence of the Narmada Kaveri, this ancient pilgrimage is situated amid great mountain ranges. From here, three and a half crore monks—including two Chakravartis and 10 Kama Kumars—have achieved salvation as mentioned in the Jain scriptures.
The credit for the discovery of the ancient pilgrimage site goes to the Bhattarak Mahendra Kirti of Indore. It is said that, in Kartik month 14 Samvat 1935, Bhattarak had a dream, on the basis of which he searched for and found this pilgrimage, according to the Digambar Jain belief of Jainism, the story of Nirvana Kand.
According to Rajendra Mahavir of Sanawad, the author of the Suhawana Sidhwarkut, this pilgrimage place is perfect. At present, there is Moolnayak Sambhavnath, as well as Shri Neminath Temple, Shri Shantinath Temple and Shri Bahubali Jinalaya. Chaitanya Chamatkari Shri Parshvanathji Temple and 10 Kama Kumar Temples have been built. Shri Sambhavnath Ji’s temple is the oldest, which was found by Bhattarak. At the same time, the statue of Lord Adinathji of Samvat 11 was also found, which is a very ancient statue in Jain history.
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Development works have been done in Sidhwarkut in the past years. The main gate of the pilgrimage has been turned east. This pilgrimage is the favourite place of Jainism chief Acharya Shri Vidyasagar, Acharya Shri Vardhman Sagar, Acharya Shri Virag Sagar and Acharya Shri Vishuddha Sagar. All the Acharyas consider Sidhwarkut to be a unique pilgrimage for self-welfare. They say that, due to the holy atoms here, there is a special benefit in austerity, renunciation, self-study, meditation and yoga. Muni Shri Tarun Sagarji said that the moon and the point on the forehead of Omkareshwar is Sidhwarkut. Both of them together generate life energy for the whole of Madhya Pradesh. All facilities are available free of cost there.
Jain pilgrims have a lot of trouble in going to Sidhwarkut. There is a ban on going on the way from Omkareshwar to Dam. Visitors have to travel about 32 kms from Barwah to Sidhwarkut. The government can build a bridge from Omkareshwar to Sidhwarkut, which was proposed in the past. Then, the pilgrims of Sidhwarkut and Omkareshwar will be able to get the benefits of darshan as a pilgrimage of the union of two cultures.
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