Lonka Shah, an Ahmedabad scribe and calligrapher, copied the Agamas and concluded that image worship had no warrant in them. His reading gathered followers who rejected temple images and the comforts of established monastic life, and his critique, carried forward by later teachers, prepared the Sthanakavasi movement, whose monks and nuns worship in plain halls and cover the mouth to spare the smallest life.
Tagged: Jain Sthanakavasi
The Event
- Date
- 1433-1471 (approximate)
- Era
- Reform Currents; Standard periodization of Jain history
- Location
- Ahmedabad, Gujarat; today Ahmedabad, India
- Traditions
- Jainism
- Streams
- Sthanakavasi
- Key figures
- Lonka Shah
Primary Sources
- The Jain inscriptional and temple record of the period.
Secondary Sources
- Dundas, Paul. The Jains. 2nd ed., Routledge, 2002.
- Wiley, Kristi L. Historical Dictionary of Jainism. Scarecrow Press, 2004.
Provenance: HIST-0610; confidence 0.85; accessed 2026-10-27.
Related on This Site
- dharma Glossary Term
- karma Glossary Term
- Acharya Bhikshu; Terapanth History Event
- Sthanakavasi consolidated History Event
- The founding of the Sthanakavasi order History Event
- Ardhamagadhi and the Prakrits Language
- Sanskrit Language
- Namokar Mantra Prayer or Creed