[Reader-list] Kashmir’s only Jain temple burnt down

[shuddha at sarai.net]

Dear All, 

I'd like to thank Shri Aditya Raj Kaul for sharing this 'developing' story. I
am sure it will 'develop' further. I am curious to know where exactly in
Srinagar, Kashmir, this 'Jain Temple' is, or more correctly, if the story is to
be believed, was, located? I am sure it would be easy to find a street name, an
exact address, even a photograph of the location. Perhaps we could be pointed
to a link (no doubt there must be a niche on a website like 'Flickr' where it
would be documented) where we could see with our own eyes an image of the sad
and unfortunate destruction of this sole Jain Temple in the Kashmir valley. 

Interestingly, the first report of this alleged incident came to light in a
website called 'Desh Gujarat'. I would advise everyone to take a close look at
Desh Gujarat to observe the origins of this developing story. The report in
Desh Gujarat is dated 11th August 2010. Which means, contrary to the report
forwarded to us by Shri Aditya Raj Kaul, it must have occured, not on Saturday,
the 14th of August, but even earlier, at least before the 11th of August . 

See the following link
http://deshgujarat.com/2010/08/11/7-jain-idols-rescued-from-srinagar-jain-mandir-brought-to-ahmedabad/

But it isn't just time travel from one date to another alone that makes this
story interesting. There seems to be an indication of some space travel as
well. 

The 'Desh Gujarat' Report says : 

"The Sunni islamist anti-nationals of Kashmir, recently destroyed a Jain Mandir
located on the banks of Alaknanda river in Kashmir valley’s Srinagar city.
However, before they could do any harm to the idols, tha Jain Mandir’s priest
took the idols out of the Mandir and shifted them to safer place."

All very well. The only problem is a minor Geographical one. There happen to be
two places called Srinagar. One is in the Kashmir valley, and the other is in
the Pauri-Garhwal region of Uttaranchal/Uttarakhand. The Alakananda River
flows, not through Srinagar in Kashmir, (where the river is the Jhelum) but
through Srinagar in Pauri Garhwal. And there is indeed a Jain Temple located by
the banks of the Alaknanda in Srinagar, in Pauri Garhwal. 

see - http://www.jainheritagecentres.com/Uttarpradesh/Srinagar.htm

Now, either the Alaknanda River has travelled a few hundred kilometres north
west from Pauri Garhwal to the Kashmir valley, across the Pir Panjal, carrying
the Jain Temple with it, or there is something a bit fishy in this story. I am
perefectly willing to believe that the first is the case, but I would like some
convincing evidence of such a marvel of the engineering sciences, and I am
curious to know why, we did not know of such a feat earlier. If indeed, it had
taken place. 

Could it be, that a bit of imaginative reporting (travelling like a bad game of
'Chinese Whispers', from before the 11th of August to the 14th of August, and 
from hearsay to 'Desh Gujarat' to the Times News Network, jumping across the
inconvenient obstacles of space and time) has transposed the fate of a Jain
temple in one Srinagar on to the map of another?

I remain curious, and as always, interested, 

Shuddha





On Sat, 21 Aug 2010 15:58:10 +0530 Aditya Raj Kaul <kauladityaraj at gmail.com>
wrote

> Kashmir’s only Jain temple burnt down Idols Safe As Priest, Sniffing
> Trouble, Hid Them In Hotel Hemali Chhapia & Mansi Choksi | TNN
> The Times of India
> 
> Mumbai: Two years ago, a family from Mumbai built a temple in the lap of
> snow-capped mountains miles away in Srinagar. The derasar (temple), carved
> out of teak, decked with marigolds and installed with three idols of Jain
> tirthankars, was set up for the thousands of Jains who streamed into the
> volatile region every holiday season.
> 
>     But last Saturday, the only Jain temple in the Kashmir Valley was burnt
> down by a mob. “It is now ground zero. There is nothing left,’’ says
Jyotin
> Doshi, chairman of Gem, a travel agency in Mumbai, whose family built the
> temple.
> 
>     A shaken-up Doshi recalls speaking to the priest, the lone caretaker of
> the temple, on the night the violence erupted. “There was curfew in the
> Valley but he noticed people gathering outside the temple,’’ he says. The
> priest, who is disturbed and has now returned to his village near
> Lucknow, quickly
> gathered the three idols, which were sculpted out of panchdhatu (an alloy of
> gold, silver, copper, iron and zinc), and hid them in a hotel. “Three hours
> later, the mob struck and destroyed what we had built,’’ says Doshi.
> 
>     Two members of Doshi’s team from Mumbai, Apurva Bhansali and Jiten
> Dharod, flew to Srinagar the next day when the curfew was lifted. They
> packed the idols in cardboard boxes and flew to Sabarmati in Gujarat.
> “Before the two had reached, the news had spread in Sabarmati. When the
> idols were installed in Chintamani Parshwanath derasar there, there were
> more than 14,000 people who came for darshan,’’ he says.
> 
>     Doshi says his family set up the temple to realize his 68-year-old
> mother’s dream. “There are many Jain travellers who can’t start their
day
> without offering prayers. She believed that the Valley needed a Jain temple
> for them,’’ he says.
> 
>     After news spread, the Doshi family has been flooded with support from
> the community. “We don’t want anything out of this. Such an issue is
easily
> made into a political controversy. We only want closure through nonviolence.
> Our idols are safe and that’s what matters,’’ he says.
> The Doshis, a family from Mumbai, had set up the derasar in Srinagar two
> years ago to realize the wishes of their mother, who wanted to build a
> temple for Jains. After the shrine was destroyed in violence, they secretly
> took the idols to Gujarat
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