Fortifying the Tradition through the Icon: Ātmārāmajī Mahārāj’s Vision for Reforming Jainism in Modern India

Ātmārāmajī Mahārāj (1837-1896) is the popular name of the Jain ācārya Vijayananda Surī, a Śvetāmbara Mūrtipūjaka Jain mendicant leader in the late 19th century. Ātmārāmajī saw the need for reforming Jainism in the western and northern parts of a colonized India in response to the growing influence of Hindu practices and ideals and to the aniconic sentiments of the Sthānakavāsīs (non-image worshipping Jains) and a contemporary Hindu reformation leader Dayānanda Sarasavatī (1824-1883) of the Ārya Samāj, a Hindu Indian reform movement. By exploring Ātmārāmajī’s The Chicago Praśnottara (1892-93) and Ajñānatimīra-bhāskara (1882) as well as his own autobiographical accounts found in various sources, this paper discusses how Ātmārāmajī navigated the tradition of the Jain mūrti-pūjā—practices associated with worshipping an icon that form the ritual praxis of particular Jain sects—through the modern period as part of his vision to reform Jainism in the modern period.