Jainism in the Punjab

The Punjab article observes that Jainism, though born in eastern India, soon spread to the Punjab as monks wandered to preach and traders carried their beliefs. While the religion never gained mass popularity in the region, it attracted influential laypeople and established several centres. Seven sites are identified as important up to the time of Akbar: Taksasila (Taxila), Harappa, Simhapura, Parvatika, Nagarkot‑Kangra, Sindhudesa and Lahore. At Taxila, tradition says Bahubali built a stupa after his father Ṛṣabha’s visit; later accounts describe 500 Jaina temples there and tell how the city was destroyed by Turuskas in the sixth century A.D., with idols hidden in underground chambers for safekeeping. Excavations at Harappa uncovered clay seals with standing figures resembling Jina images, and scholars have compared the cobra‑hooded figure on an Indus seal to the Jina Suparśva. These findings suggest that a meditative cult akin to Jainism existed in the Indus Valley civilisation. The article implies that although Jains were a small minority in Punjab, their temples, inscriptions and possible links to the Indus seals underscore the antiquity of their presence.

Summary reviewed by a volunteer editor.