Shrine of Vijayanandsuri, Atmaramji, Gujranwala

Material Information

Title:
Shrine of Vijayanandsuri, Atmaramji, Gujranwala
Series Title:
Jaina Heritage in Pakistan = پاکستان میں جین مت
Added title page title:
Atmaramji Shrine, Gujranwala, Pakistan
Publication Date:

Notes

General Note:
This project was carried out in collaboration by principal investigator Dr Peter Flügel of the Centre of Jaina Studies (SOAS) with a research team of the Nusrat Jahan College (NJC) in Rabwah coordinated by Dr Mirza Naseer Ahmad, comprisng Mr Muzaffar Ahmad (research officer ), Mr Asif Mahmood Rana (photographs and data collections), Mr Naeem Ahmad (maps), Mrs Tahira Siddiqa (maps), Mr Abdul Khaliq (design), Mr Umar Hanan (editing), with additional help of local historians of Jainism in North India, Ravinder Jain and Purushottam Jain.
General Note:
The work was sponsored through a generous gift of Baron Dilip Mehta of Antwerp. Key contributors were PI Dr Peter Flügel (SOAS), Dr Mirza Naseer Ahmad (NJC), coordinator of work in Pakistan, and RO Mr Muzaffar Ahmad, who analysed data from published sources in Urdu and English and from museums in Pakistan and planned the field research. Fieldwork was conducted and written up by Asif Rana, and maps were produced by Naeem Ahmad and Tahira Siddiqa (all NJC). Ravinder Jain of Maler Kotla and Purushottam Jain of Mandi Gobindgarh in India provided invaluable background information about locations of Jaina sites in Pakistan, based on prior research (Jain & Jain 1974) and communications from Sādhvī Svarṇakāntā (1929-2001) (born in Lahore), Dr Sādhvī Arcanā (family from Rawalpindi), Mahindra Kumar Jain (Co-researcher of the late Hiralal Duggar in Panch Kula), and others, and from Iqbal Qaisar in Lahore, who conducted independent research on the same subject. See Qaisar (2018). Valuable information was also supplied by Noel Q. King (1922-2009) of Corralitos in California (born in Taxila), who in 2003 researched the Jain temples and institutions in Pakistan but had his notes stolen on a train, and Raj Kumar Jain (born in Jhelum), stalwart of the Śvetāmbara refugee community in Delhi. They were interviewed by PI on 8.6.2005 and 23.2.2017 respectively. Further interviews were conducted with informants in Meerut, Jaipur, Bikaner, etc.
General Note:
Credits: Dr Peter Flügel (principal investigator and lead collaborator), Dr Tahira Saeed, Deputy Director (BPS-18) National Archives of Pakistan, Islamabad (co-investigator), Dr Mirza Naseer Ahmad, Deputy Director Nazarat Taleem and HoD Earth Sciences Department, Nusrat Jahan College (NJC) (collaborator and project manager), Mr Muzaffar Ahmad (NJC) (research officer), Mr Asif Mahmood Rana (NJC) (photographs and data collection), Mr Naeem Ahmad, Mrs Tahira Siddiqa (all NJC) (maps), Mr Abdul Khaliq (NJC) (designing), Mr Umar Hanan (NJC) (editing), Mr Ahtesham Aziz Chaudhary, Research Officer at Lahore Museum (collaborator), Mr Ravinder Jain, Maler Kotla (collaborator), Mr Purushottam Jain, Mandi Gobindgarh (collaborator), Dr Sādhvī Arcanā (collaborator).
General Note:
For more information about Jaina Heritage in Pakistan, see: Flügel, Peter and Ahmad, Muzaffar (2018) 'An Exploratory Survey of the Jaina Heritage in Pakistan.' Jaina Studies - Newsletter of the Centre of Jaina Studies, 13. pp. 26-32. (article last referenced online at https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/25638/)
General Note:
Photograph dated 2016
General Note:
This image from: The Chicago prashnottar, or questions and answers on Jainism for the Parliament of Religions held at Chicago, U.S.A. in 1893
General Note:
The shrine, at one time, was used as police station of Sabzi Mandi area
General Note:
The Atmaramji shrine is located in central Gujranwala at the junction of the Grand Trunk Road and Parao Road. Constructed from the tail end of the 19th century into the early 20th, it memorializes Acharya Vijayanand Suri (1837-96, also known as Vijayanandsuri), a renowned Jain monk, whose ashes were interred here. Vijayanandsuri gained fame as the first monk in several centuries to earn the title Acharya, a rare honor among Jain devotees. An intelligent and erudite man, he travelled on foot throughout Gujarat and the Punjab, working to open Jain Bhandaras (libraries), which were not readily accessible to the public. -- from Asian Historical Architecture, see: https://www.orientalarchitecture.com/sid/1220/pakistan/gujranwala/atmaramji-shrine

Record Information

Source Institution:
Nusrat Jahan College, Rabwah
Holding Location:
SOAS University of London
Rights Management:
The author dedicated the work to the Commons by waiving all of his or her rights to the work worldwide under copyright law and all related or neighboring legal rights he or she had in the work, to the extent allowable by law. -- This image is the public domain under copyright legislation of India and the USA at the time of publication