Article: Digambara canon

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Śruta-pañcamī – part 1

Some features of the annual Digambara festival of knowledge – Śruta-pañcamī – are demonstrated in this YouTube video, such as the worship ritual and the procession of holy texts. Temple rites include the ritual anointment of freestanding metal plaques representing holy texts and idols, accompanied by jangling percussion. The main part of the ritual shown in this video centres around the worship of the śruta-skandha-yantra, a plaque made of brass in the form of a tree, which represents the kinds of scriptures Digambaras recognise. Carried in procession, the sacred books are garlanded with flowers and flanked by attendants using fly-whisks, which indicate the princely status of the artefacts, while devotees kneel before a naked monk and touch his feet. The Ṣaṭkhaṇḍāgama, the main authoritative source of Digambara teachings, is the book worshipped here.

This three-part YouTube video records the festival at Mudalur, Tamil Nadu in India, held over 28th and 29th May 2009. This is the first part and you can watch the second part at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-I9AYjIcAc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S2bcehoy-U

Śruta-pañcamī – part 2

The procession of holy texts in the annual Digambara festival of knowledge – Śruta-pañcamī – is the main subject of this YouTube video. As the centre of festivities, the sacred books are decorated with flower garlands. They are placed on a model elephant, protected from the sun by a canopy and fanned with fly-whisks, all symbols of royalty. The Jain flag is waved in front. Lay Jains, many dressed in orange – the colour of spirituality in India – take part in the noisy procession. Some carry the metal sculptures of the 12 dreams of a Jina’s birth. A nude monk, holding his peacock-feather broom, and white-clad nuns also participate. The procession ends with a display of holy books, the reflection of which is ritually anointed, and a rite of worship in which the auspicious symbol of the svastika can be clearly seen.

This three-part YouTube video records the festival at Mudalur, Tamil Nadu in India, held over 28th and 29th May 2009. This is the second part and you can watch the last part at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR21K-vcp5U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-I9AYjIcAc

Śruta-pañcamī – part 3

This YouTube video follows the end of the first day’s events of the annual Digambara festival of knowledge – Śruta-pañcamī. First, a rite of worship before a brightly coloured rangoli – a design of coloured powder or rice symbolising joy and welcome – is performed. The lay community files past the rangoli and metal sculpture representing knowledge while monks and lay people chant a Sanskrit hymn. This song praises knowledge, omniscience, the scriptures and the goddess Sarasvatī, who embodies knowledge. Behind the rangoli piles of holy books can be seen, which have been carried in procession through the village as guides to knowledge. After the fire ritual, an inititation ceremony – dīkṣā – of a new monk, featuring keśa-loca  – ‘pulling out of the hair’ – takes place before the crowd. Afterwards, they move trays of fire in circles – āratī – offering pūja or worship to the new mendicant. An anointing ceremony – abhiṣeka – of the māna-stambha pillar found in front of Jain temples follows, with a final procession past the symbols of knowledge.

This three-part YouTube video records the festival at Mudalur, Tamil Nadu in India, held over 28th and 29th May 2009. This is the final part and you can watch the first part at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S2bcehoy-U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR21K-vcp5U

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