Nemgiri

Nemgiri
Antariksh Parasnath
Basic information
Affiliation	Jainism

Neminath-Parshwanath-Shantinath Bhagavan idols inside caves

Nemgiri is a place in Jintur taluka of Parbhani district of Maharashtra state of India. Nemgiri is particularly known for its Jain temple which is protected by state government and Archaeological Survey of India.^[1] Nemgiri is named after twenty-second Jain tirthankara Neminatha. In Marathi language or originally in Sanskrit, Nemi is for Neminatha while giri means mountain.^[2] There is no specific historical knowledge about this particular fort with the name Nemgiri, which Rashtrakuta kings have ruled in Jintur. However, there is some historical knowledge available about the caves.^[3] In ancient times this area was famous as Jainpur, during the time of Emperor ″Amogh Varsha″ of Rashtrakut Family. Later, in the middle period of Indian History, this was destroyed by invaders, and its name changed to Jintur, which is its current name.

At that time, 300 Jain families and 14 Jain Temples were present. Out of them, only two temples currently remain. In the year 1609 AD, this Kshetra was reconstructed and developed by ″Shri Veer Sangavi″ of ″Bagherwal Caste″. It is said that ″Samavsharan″ of ″Lord Mahaveer″ came here, and that the last Shrut Kevali Acharya Bhadrabahu with his 1200 scholars (including Chandragupt Maurya, the great emperor of ancient India) installed the famous idol of Lord Parshvanatha. The idol is said to float at a height of 3 inches. So this is called ″Antariksha Parsvanath″. According to archaeologists the idols of this Kshetra are 1000 years old or more.

This Kshetra is situated in sub hills of Sahyadri Mountains, full of natural beauty in the area of Marathvada in Parabhani District 3 km away from Jintur. Two hills, named Nemgiri and Chandragiri, are famous for their ancient, artistic, and miraculous Jain Cave Temples and Chaityalayas.

There are two temples and 7 caves on the two hills.The hills are named as Nemgiri and chandragiri respectively.

on Nemgiri hill there are 7 caves.The caves are having the tiny entrances but the Idols inside are quiet larger one.Nemgiri caves are the antique example of civil engineering.Every year thousands of devotees and Tourists pay tribute to the god by coming here.Many jain Muni's have visited spent four months here in as part of their rituals of "चातुर्मास".The names of the Muni includes

1.Acharyashree Devnandi Maharaj

2.Acharyashree Gunanandiji Maharaj

3.Munishree Samadhi Sagarji (VidyasagarDas)

4.Munishree Akshay Sagarji

5.Munishree YashKeertiji

6.Munishree Suvandhya sagarji

etc.

References

1. "Protected Monuments by A SI". official website of Archaeological Survey of India. Retrieved 21 July 2015. See number 191
2. "Nemgiri". Nemgiri.org. Retrieved 21 July 2015.