HUKUM CHAND Vs. MAHARAJ BAHADUR SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This case is the result of further disputes between the two sects of Jains as to their rights of worship on Parasnath hill. As so much turns on the beliefs now entertained by the whole Jain community with reference to the sacred character of this hill, their Lordships will begin by citing the opening paragraphs of the judgment delivered by Lord Phillimore a few years ago in Maharaj Bahadur Singh V/s. Hukum Chand, AIR 1926 PC 13, in which this subject is most felicitously dealt with : "The Jains recognize 24 highly saintly personages, men who have attained salavation or Nirvana, who are called Tirthankars (finders of the ford, across the river of death.) These four and twenty are counted in many respects as higher than the gods or some of the gods in the Hindu Pantheon.

(2.) Twenty of them are believed to have attained Nirvana in the present cycle of the world's history upon the hill Parasnath in the District of Hazaribigh in Bengal, with the result that the hill is held in reverence by Jains. The hill itself has some remarkable natural features and rises into several peaks. 20 spot apparently marked out by natural features, are believed to be places from which the 20 Tirthankars quitted earth; and at each of these spots, a footprint of the saint is worshipped. There is a small enclosure covered with a cupola, which at the present moment is made of white marble. These spots have been set apart from remote antiquity. The four remaining Tirthankars quitted earth in other parts of India. In respect of them conventional spots have been since the year 186S set apart and treated in a similar way.

(3.) Upon the hill there are also a shrine to a lesser saint called Gautama Swami, an important temple in one of the highest parts of the mountain called Jalmandil, certain platforms set apart for religious contemplation, and two Dharamasalas or rest-houses for pilgrims. The hill is much frequented by pilgrims, who take the 24 shrines or tonks in regular order, worshipping at each.