Tapa Gaccha


Tapa Gaccha is the largest Gaccha of Śvetāmbara Jainism. More than half of the existing Jain ascetics belong to the Tapa Gaccha. Several successful Sanskrit scholars belonged to Tapa Gaccha, including Hiravijaya, Meghavijaya, Yashovijaya, Vijayanandsuri among others. Panyas Bhadrankarvijaya was also a notable monk who came in contact with Acharya Ramchandra Suri before initiation as a monk in Tapa Gaccha.
In the Tapa Gaccha tradition, Manibhadra Vir is revered as a principal protective deity, invoked for safeguarding the monastic lineage and its lay followers. Jain sources explicitly refer to him as the Tapāgaccha adhiṣṭhāyaka, emphasizing his role as a guardian rather than a salvific figure.

History

Tapa Gaccha was founded by Acharya Jagatchandra Suri in Vikram Samvat 1285. He was given the title of "Tapa" at Aghatpur by the ruler of Mewar, Jaitrasimha. This title was applied to the whole group. Jagatchandra Suri died in Vikram Samvat 1327 and was succeeded by Devendra Suri, Dharamaghosh Suri, Somprabh Suri, Somtilak Suri, and others. These leaders performed many religious activities including pratishta-sangh-yatras.
File:Idol of three prominent Ācaryas from Tapā Gaccha.jpg|thumb|Idol of three prominent Ācaryas from Tapā Gaccha; Hiravijay Suri, Jagatcandrasūri & Vijayanand Suri
Under Vijayanandsuri's leadership and other monks, the Shwetambara Murtipujak Conference was established in 1893 which reformed mendicant as well as lay religious practices. As a result of this reform, most Shwetambara Jain monks today belong to Tapa Gaccha.
Today, the majority of its followers live in states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab and Rajasthan.

Denominations

Tapa Gaccha was followed by 21 different samuday, or orders. The sects follow different rituals but they do not have differences about scriptures.
Some of these differences include Tithi, veneration of gurus, pilgrimage of Palitana temples during monsoon and Santikaram chanting on Chaturdasi.
Up until the time of Nemisuri, there was unity in Tapa Gachcha. In 1935, on Samvatsari, the last day of Paryushan, Ramchandra Suri order observed it on a different day. This became a sectarian issue and Tapa Gaccha separated into 'Be Tithi Paksh or 'two date fraction' and 'Ek Tithi Paksh or 'one date fraction'. Anandji Kalyanji Trust, which manages 1200 Jain temples, unsuccessfully attempted several times to resolve the issue.
Other distinguishing factors include the veneration of gurus using Vasakshep between these two fractions. Be tithi fraction believes that Guru or Acharya should be venerated by Navangi Guru Poojan, spreading powder on nine points of the body while the Ek tithi fraction believes that it should be spread on one point of the body, the Ekangi Guru Poojan. Both fractions differ on the pilgrimage of Palitana temples on mount Shatrunjay by laypersons during monsoon season.

Organisation, samudāys, and leadership

The Tapa Gaccha is the largest monastic order within the Śvetāmbara Mūrtipūjak tradition of Jainism. Scholarly studies of Jain monastic organisation describe the Tapa Gaccha as internally differentiated into multiple monastic lineages, known as samudāys, each organised around senior ācāryas and maintaining a degree of administrative and disciplinary autonomy while remaining institutionally within the gaccha.
Rather than functioning as a single centralised institution, the Tapa Gaccha operates through a plurality of samudāys, whose coexistence has been a characteristic feature of the gaccha’s historical and contemporary structure.

Branches (śākhā)

Within the Tapa Gaccha, monastic lineages are traditionally grouped under two principal branches, known as śākhā:
1. Vijay Śākhā
2. Sāgara Śākhā
Each śākhā encompasses several samudāys, generally named after influential ācāryas associated with their formation or consolidation.

Samudāy system

A samudāy within the Tapa Gaccha functions as a recognised monastic lineage headed by a senior ācārya, commonly referred to as a gacchādhipati. While sharing the broader doctrinal identity of the Tapa Gaccha, individual samudāys may differ in organisational practices, leadership succession, and patterns of monastic movement.
Scholarly analysis indicates that the emergence, division, and reorganisation of samudāys has been a recurring process within the Tapa Gaccha, contributing to its long-term institutional continuity rather than constituting separation from the gaccha itself.

Contemporary samudāys and gacchādhipatis

According to contemporary Jain monastic directories and organisational listings, multiple samudāys are presently active within the Tapa Gaccha, each headed by a senior ācārya known as a gacchādhipati. These listings provide an overview of current leadership structures within the gaccha.
The seniormost and currently recognised head of the Tapa Gaccha in the present period is identified as:
Tapa Gacchādhipati – Ācārya Shri Manoharkīrti Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb

List of current samudāys

No.Samudāy nameGacchādhipatiNotes
1Buddhi­sāgar Sūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Manoharkīrti Sūrijī Mahārāj SāhebTapa Gacchādhipati
2Nemisūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Hemchandra Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
3Dharmavijay SamudāyĀcārya Shri Abhaydev Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
4Nītisūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Lalitprabh Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
5Labdhisūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Rājyash Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
6Prem–Bhuvanbhānusūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Rājendrasūri Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
7Siddhisūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Yaśovijay Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
8Śānticandrasūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Somasundar Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
9Śānticandrasūri Samudāy Ācārya Shri Yogtilak Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
10Prem–Rāmchandrasūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Puṇyapāl Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
11Sāgarānandsūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Nardevsāgar Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
12Vijayvallabhasūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Nityānand Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
13Śāntivimalsūri Samudāy Ācārya Shri Pradyumnavimalsūri
14Śānticandrasūri Samudāy–IĀcārya Shri Rājśekhar Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
15Vijayvallabhasūri Samudāy Ācārya Shri Dharmdhurandhar Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
16Yug Divākar Dharmasūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Chandrasen Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
17Mohanlāl Sūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Muktiprabh Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
18Munishri Mohjitvijayji SamudāyĀcārya Shri Yugbhūṣaṇ Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
19Bhaktisūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Kulchandra Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
20Kalāpūrṇa Sūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Kalpataru Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
21Himāchal Sūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Ravishēkhar Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
22Amṛtasūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Hemendra Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
23Keśarsūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Udayprabh Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
24Rājendrasūri Samudāy Ācārya Shri Nityasen Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
25Keśarsūri Samudāy–IIĀcārya Shri Vijñānprabh Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
26Rājendrasūri Samudāy Ācārya Shri Jayānand Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb
27Rājendrasūri SamudāyĀcārya Shri Hiteshchandra Sūrijī Mahārāj Sāheb

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