Aharji is a historical pilgrimage site for Jainism in India. It is located in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, on the road from Tikamgarh to Chhatarpur. This place is famous for Jain Temple.
Aharji is a place full of natural attractive beauty. It is famous for the miraculous colossus of Lord (Shantinath) in standing (Khadagasana) posture. It is 18 feet in height.[1]
The main temple is famous for beautiful monumental image of Lord Shatinath from the Chandella period. It has an inscription on it[2] of 1180 AD (Vikram Samvat 1237). It was the last major temple to be built here in the Chandella period. Several other smaller temples were built here at the same time as the main temple.
Excavations have found a large number of Jain images that were installed here during 954 to 1275 AD (Samvat 1011 to Samvat 1332), spanning the reigns of six Chandella rulers. This was a major Jain center during the Chandella period. The inscriptions give the names of 32 separate Jain communities that had built these temples, including Golapurva, Parwar, Khandelwal, Golalare, Jaiswal etc.[3]
Shantinath image inscription
The Shantinath image has a long inscription [4] on it that mentions that two brothers, Jahad and Udaichandra, belonging to the Grahapati community, built the temple during the rule of Chandella ruler Paramardhi, who is well known as Raja Parmal in the popular ballad Alha-Khand. They were the descendants of the builders of the Sahasrakuta temple at Banpur. The image was carved by a sculptor name Papat. Trivedi [5] mentions that several Chandella inscriptions mentioning the Grahapati individuals have been found, and that they were noted for their significance and donations.
Location
The place is located in Taluka – Baldeogarh, District – Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh, about 25 km from Tikamgarh.[6] The management committee is Shri Digamber Jain Siddha Kshetra Aharji Prabandhakarini Samiti, Nearby Cities include Tikamgarh and Chhatarpur
^Kasturchand Jain Suman, Bharatiya Digambar Jain Abhilekh aur Tirth Parichay, Madhya-Pradesh: 13 vi shati tak, Delhi, 2001, p. 212-219
^H.V. Trivedi, "Inscriptions of the Paramaras, Chandellas, Kachchhapaghatas and two minor Dynasties", part 3 of the 3-part Vol II of Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, (published in 1989)
