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Location:
Dronagiri is located 61 km
south east of Gwalior, MP on Dehli Mumbui railway route. Flowing down the east-facing slope of a
solitary hillock, deep in the central Indian countryside, 84 gleaming
white shrines mark the spot where the legendary King Nanganang Kumar,
together with five-and-a-half crore of his followers, achieved
liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Siddha Kshetra Drongiri is an ancient Nirvan Kshetra
which is proved by ancient literature, ancient cave, ancient Jain temples & art of sculpture.
Drongiri is described as Nirvan Kshetra by Shri Pujyapad Swamy in Nirvan Bhakti, by Acharya Harishen in Brihat Katha Kosh and in Nirvan Kand.
The large ancient cave, from which Shri Gurudatta & others achieved Moksha (Salvation), was opted for meditation and penance by Charitra Chakravarti Acharya Shri Shanti Sagarji Maharaj in the year V. S. 1929 when he came here.
In the story of Gurudatta & other saints, the cave is said to be residence of
lions also written in Aradhana Katha Kosh. A pair of foot image of Shri Gurudatta is installed in this cave.
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Old
Digambar monks conduct religious discussions with pilgrims in the
courtyard, their distinctive yellow wooden water pots (dariyes) and
peacock-feather whisks beside them. For most of the year, these
ascetics wander naked around the country, returning to monasteries
for a few months to give and receive teachings.
Most Jains making gifts to religious establishments
as evidenced by the dozens of donator plaques set in the marble
walkway leading up the hill. Crowning the summit of Hasthinapur, the
main temple houses a colossal tirthankara icon, while below
it, a ceramic scale model of Mount Meru, the axial mountain said by
Jains to support the cosmos, looks out over the cascade of whitewashed
spires and fluttering yellow pennants to the distant plains.
There is
a big temple about 200 years old , another fine temple about a
century old and five small shrines are standing on different mounds in the
forest, within a distance of 7 kilometers ; the place was famous for its
five Jain stupas which are now no more.
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