Information AboutDigambar |
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978-993 AD.]] The modern Jainism is generally divided into two traditions, Digambar and Svetambar. Generally Digambar monks wear no clothes (dik ambar = space clad), Svetambar (swet ambar = white clad) monks usually wear white clothes. Until the leadership of Feather Broom and a Water Gourd . Swetambara monks usually wear white clothes, maintaining that nudity is no longer practicable. While there are some differences in some practices, the main principles like Mahavratas, Anuvratas etc. are the same. Of the ~6000 Jain Nun s, barely 1.5% are Digambaras. The native Jain communities of Maharashta , Bundelkhand ( MP / UP ), Karnataka , Tamil Nadu are all Digambaras. In north India, the Saravagi s and the Agrawal s are also Digambaras. In Gujarat and Southern Rajasthan , the majority of Jains follow the Svetambara tradition. Digambara also has different communities under it such as Parwar, Saitwal , Lad , Khandelwal , Bagherwal , Aggarwal etc. Of these Saitwal is well known and well organized caste of Marathi speaking Jain community. They are high in number. Saitwals are spread all over Maharashtra, South Madhya Pradesh and North Karnatak. The traditional occupation of Saitwals is tailoring. This is a well educated community and it has given many writers and scholars to the Jain community. They are Progressive and social minded. Most of their surnames are based on their original villages. Parwars mainly come from Bundelkhand (MP/UP). They are one of the most learned amongst Jains. Most Pandits and Pujaris of tirthakshetras are Parwars. The prominent Acharyas of the Digambar tradition were:
In around 10th century Digambar tradition was divided into two main orders.
Acharya Shantisagar , the first Acharya of the 20th century, belonged to the tradition of Sena gana. Practically all the Digambara monks today, belong to the tradition of Acharya Shantisagar directly or indirectly. The Bhattaraka s of Shravanbelgola and Mudbidri belong to Deshiya gana and Bhatttara of Humach belongs to Balatkara gana. Among the prominent Digambara Acharyas today are Acharya Vidyasagar and Acharya Vidyanand . Among the Digambaras, the Taran Panthi follow Taran Swami and Kanji Panthi follow Kanji Swami . Those following the Terapanth reforms are called Terapanthi and others are called Bispanthi . In practice, the Bispanth/Terapanth division is not important, and separate institutions do not exist. REFERENCES
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