Dimapur Jain Temple | |
Religious Affiliation: | Jainism |
Sect: | Digambar |
Map Type: | India Nagaland#India |
Map Size: | 250 |
Coordinates: | 25.92°N 93.73°W |
Deity: | Mahavira |
Festivals: | Mahavir Jayanti, Paryushan |
Established: | 1947 |
Creator: | Shri Phulchand Sethi, Shri Jethmal Sethi, Shri Udayram Chabra and Shri Kanhaiyalal Sethi |
Dimapur Jain Temple is mainly known for a Jain Temple in Dimapur which is built in 1947. The temple is located on Jain Temple Road and has Lord Mahavira as its Moolnayak. The temple is under the aegis of the SD Jain Samaj Dimapur.
In the pre-independent India, most of the Jain families were settled in Kohima. All these families belonged to the Digambara sect. In 1920, eight Sethi families, who were non-Naga Settlers, built the first Jain temple in Kohima. However, these families moved to Dimapur in 1944 due to the Japanese invasion during World War II. These families then built the Dimapur Jain Temple, SD Jain School, and SD Jain Charitable Hospital. The most prominent among these were Shri Phulchand Sethi, Shri Jethmal Sethi, Shri Kanhaiyalal Sethi, Hardev Sethi, Hiralal Sethi, and Shri Mangilal Chabra. Shri Phulchand Sethi was the first secretary of the SD Jain Samaj, Dimapur, and held this post till 1976. Shri Udayram Ji Chabra was the first president of the SD Jain Samaj followed by Shri Jethmal Sethi.
The Moolnayak of the temple is Lord Mahavira. In the back portion of the temple, the statues of Lord Adinath, Lord Bahubali, and Lord Bharat Swami stand tall. The back of the temple was built later in 1989. The Panch kalyanak of the statues was conducted by Ganini Shri Suparshmati Mataji in 1989. On the first floor is the Samavsaran and the Chaubisi (idols of all the twenty-four Tirthankaras).