Panchkula to have tallest Jain idol in world

Mar 4, 2011,CHANDIGARH:



Panchkula will soon be on the world Jain tourism map with the world\'s tallest idol of the 23rd Tirthankar Bhagwan Parshvanath being installed at a new temple in Sector 18. The 7.3 feet tall idol will be erected by the middle of this month.



\'\'The idol is unique as it has water oozing out of 1,008 hoods of cobras,\'\' said Upadhyayshri Guptisagar, one of most revered scholars and saints of Digambar Jains in the world, while talking to TOI during an interview here on Thursday.



Guptisagar revealed that the artisans took six months to make the idol and were paid more than they expected but he did not reveal the amount. The saint is himself stationed at Digambar Jain temple in Sector 27 to oversee the arrangements.



\'\'The statue is made of black marble from Makrana in Rajasthan. The final trials of water flow from the mouths of all cobras are going to be undertaken next week,\'\' he said, adding that the throne of the idol has intricate artistic work.



Guptisagar said the Tirthankar Parshvanath finds reference in Vedas also for turning adversities into opportunities and bliss, the elevated human with a Midas touch. \'\'This part of India does not have a single Parshwanath temple,\'\' he said.



Guptisagar, who does not wear clothes according to a level of sainthood attained in the Digambar Jain order, will walk down from Madhya Pradesh to install and consecrate the idol between March 11 and 16 at Panchkula. The saint has 30 publications to his credit and is pioneer of a Jain school that concentrates efforts on public welfare. He does not sleep even for three hours a day.



He explained that Jains are one of the highest per capita income and wealth-holding communities in India and their saints live the toughest life amongst all religious people of the world. Digambar Jain saints don\'t possess even a single piece of cloth or utensil. They eat and drink only once in a day holding food and drink in the hollow of their palms, he said.




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