Earlier, in April, came the auspicious day of Chaitri Poonam or the Full moon of the Chaitra month for Jains. It is the day the first disciple of Adinath, Pundrik Swami got enlightened. And along with him crores of other swamis. Adinath (or Rushabhnath) is the first Jain tirthankar in this half yuga cycle, so he is often revered a little bit more than most other tirthankars, as being the starter of Jainism in this half yuga cycle. I was in Tiruvannamalai around that time. And my mother was visiting Chennai for a social function, so I went to meet her. And she found out about this 2500 year old Adinath temple in Puzhal, Chennai. So happened this trip.

Kesarwadi Jain Temple, Puzhal

This was our main draw here. Visiting a 2500 year old shrine of Adinath on the day of Chaitri Poonam was exciting.

As with many older construction styles, we entered the gate, and found ourselves in a large courtyard. The Shatrunjaya patth (model) was here and a few devotees were doing their sadhana.

On Chaitri Poonam, Pundrik Swami and the other swamis got enlightened at Shatrunjaya Mountain in Palitana, Gujarat. So on this day, you will find a lot of devotees in Palitana. But even in Jain temples across the world, a model of Shatrunjaya mountain is made, and devotees will come and sing some stavans on Adinath and do some rituals.

Typically, a particular stavan called Siddhachal Samaru (Remembering Siddhachal) is sung by devotees in front of the Shatrunjaya patth. Siddhachal is another name for Shatrunjaya mountain. And this stavan is basically eloquent praises for the mountain. It also includes the ritual of 21 khamasanas (a style of bowing down).

This courtyard also has another temple to the left, which has many idols of various deities.

Proceeding towards the ancient Adinath temple, we come to another gate which I found very interesting in style,

This is a picture from the Adinath temple looking into the courtyard

The Adinath temple has a very distinctly different style than Jain temples seen today. I wonder if it is because at that time Jainism was very prevalent in the South, because of this they didn’t try to distinguish themselves differently. Now, the temples are made to look different from Hindu shrines which are more prevalent. Just a thought.

It is a fairly spacious temple, though crowded on this Chaitri Poonam day. There is a devi shrine inside which is also considered powerful. The Adinath idol is quite unique with entwining serpents on both sides. I enjoyed sitting inside. Meditated for a while and then sang some stavans.

Don’t miss going up the terrace if you visit, there is a Parshwanath shrine there. It is a rare pink stone murti.

Mom and I really enjoyed visiting this temple and seeing the eclectic crowd of Gujaratis and Marwadis alike going on with their sadhana. We expected Puzhal to be a very small place, but the crowds and amenities available at this temple made it seem a lot bigger.

There is a dharamshala here for devotees to stay and also a bhojan (food) place where Jain meals would be served. On this day, despite all the crowds, it was interesting. The food was a mix of Gujarati (Surti daal), Rajasthani (Daal baati) and Tamil (Curd rice) cuisine. 😀

Plus, there all facilities to do pooja and other rituals.

We later discovered, while this Kesarwadi shrine is ancient and significant, there are a lot of new Jain temples in this area.

Other Jain Temples of Puzhal, Chennai

Right outside the Kesarwadi shrine is the Parshwanath Jain temple, which has been built in the last 10 years or so, I am told. It looks stunning.

Very well made temple I must say. Ornate carving and thoughtful places to sit inside too.

One amazing find we made,

Bhaktamar Stotra Temple

A lovely looking temple on the ground level is dedicated to the Bhaktamar Stotra!

Bhaktamar Stotra is a beautiful rendition from Acharya Manatunga. He was a great devotee of Adinath and as his profession, he managed the kings treasury. Out of his devotion he spent all the money on the Adinath temple. The king was enraged and threw him in jail and told him to get Adinath’s help to be free. Manatunga sings the bhaktamar stotra – each verse of this song are moving praises of Adinath’s greatness. He was barred behind 48 locks or doors and with each verse of bhaktamar stotra one of the locks opened up. The king was astounded to find him free and he also became a devotee of the Acharya and Adinath.

You can hear the Bhaktamar Stotra here,

I have seen a lot of Jains, who don’t follow much of the religion, have an affinity for this particular stotra. And I have ascertained a bit of the meaning and it’s amazing. As usual heaps and heaps of praises on Adinath. I wrote earlier about why these praises are important for a sadhaka.

Other temples

Apart from the above Parshwanath temple with the Bhaktamar temple in the ground floor, there are still more temples nearby. We almost missed these because visitors aren’t being told of them, nor is there any board. Maybe there are different sects that have built these, cause there are some differences in each of them.

Right opposite the Kesarwadi entrance is a dome like Jain temple. It has 4 idols facing the different directions – I think it is the giving a discourse pose (I am not sure). It is a round shrine and we can circumambulate. There are also two small shrines on the side, one of which is Kaal Bhairava. I had done some research about the Jain and Hindu connect for this deity as it is Shiva’s form in Hinduism.

After you visit this temple, keep going in the same lane, and you will come to more temples.

There is a Shrimad Rajchandra temple, which is quite cool. It’s the first such temple I have seen. And it got me curious about his message. Maybe I will check it out a bit later.

This temple has two main shrines. The left one is for all present tirthankars in Mahavidyekshetra. The main deity is Simandhar Swami while all around are the other tirthankars of that region. On the right is one Acharyaji, who I don’t know anything about and I have forgotten the name. 😉

There was also another temple on the way which is a shrine for an Acharya,

There are many dharamshalas for devotees to stay. I don’t have any contacts currently, but I think my Mom took some cards, you can ask me if you are interested in getting the contact numbers.

Overall, we were really happy and surprised with this visit. And it seems like a little Jain temple town coming up there.

Directions: Chennai to Puzhal

We were staying on the other side of Chennai at Thiruvanmiyur, and so the Ola would have been quite expensive both ways. So, we decided to take the local train from Thiruvanmiyur to Perambur. From Perambur, we got a direct train. The local train ride was enjoyable. Chennai’s local train track is elevated and hence, gives a good view of the city.

From Perambur we took an Ola to Puzhal temple. It cost around 130 INR. The auto guy from Perambur was asking 200 INR.

From Puzhal also, we did an Ola. On the Chaitra Poornima day autos were also available outside the temple, but I wonder whether they would be available on a normal day. Also, the autos may charge extra for Puzhal, because it is not within Chennai city limits. It is about 20 kms outside.

Hope this write up helps you explore this Jain segment in Puzhal, on the outskirts of Chennai! And in case you are looking to explore more stuff around it, there is a Puzhal lake (and the central jail, which you probably don’t want to explore 😉 )