Jinaprabhasuri's account on Mathura

Summary

Jinaprabhasūri, a fourteenth‑century Jain monk, authored the Vividha Tīrtha Kalpa, an encyclopedic work describing pilgrimage sites across India. This article focuses on his chapters dealing with Mathurā, a city sacred to both Jains and Hindus. Drawing on earlier texts and perhaps his own travels, Jinaprabhasūri enumerates the shrines dedicated to the tīrthankaras Neminātha and Anantanātha, describes the images and their iconography, and recounts legends associated with them. He notes that Mathurā was once home to a thriving Śvetāmbara community and that wealthy merchants sponsored temples with high spires, ornate mandapas and jewelled images. The article highlights his reference to a great assembly hall where monks debated doctrines and his description of caves on the banks of the Yamunā used for meditation. Jinaprabhasūri also laments the decline of Jain institutions in Mathurā due to invasions and sectarian rivalry, urging patrons to restore shrines and support monks. The study then compares his account with archaeological and epigraphic evidence. While few of the Śvetāmbara temples he names survive, excavations have uncovered votive sculptures and pillars that match his descriptions. Inscriptions from the Kushan and Gupta periods attest to Mathurā’s importance as a Jain centre. The article argues that Jinaprabhasūri’s work, though occasionally embellished, preserves valuable information about the spatial organisation of temples, ritual practices and the social geography of the medieval city. His lament about decline foreshadows the eventual shift of Jain patronage to Gujarat and Rajasthan. The author concludes that cross‑disciplinary analysis of literary accounts and material remains can enrich our understanding of sacred landscapes.