Siddhachalam is the first JainTirtha (pilgrimage site) located outside of India. Founded in 1983 by Sushil Kumar, it is located on a 108-acre (44ha) site in rural New Jersey, United States.[1] Siddhachalam (Hindi: siddha, liberated souls; achal, a permanent place, as a mountain) literally means the abode of liberated souls.
History
In 1980, Sushil Kumar encouraged his disciples to acquire a long-abandoned children's summer camp and founded an ashram there to teach ahimsa. Kumar reportedly engaged there in extended samadhi meditation.[1] Twelve years later, he encouraged the community to establish temples in homage to Jinas. The ashram maintains the only Jain monastery outside India.[2] Siddhachalam has become an important center of Jain conferences and an important Jain pilgrimage.[3] The center houses idols from all Jain sects, given that American Jains have sought to not bring in sectarian differences from India.[4]
In 2012, Siddhachalam became the site for the world's first full-scale, complete replication of Shikharji, the most important place of pilgrimage for the Jains. Shikharji at Siddhachalam is the first Jain place of pilgrimage outside India.[5]
