Paporaji

Paporaji Jain Tirth
Shri Jain Atishaya Kshetra Paporaji
Paporaji Jain Tirth
Location within Madhya Pradesh
Basic information
Location	Tikamgarh, Tikamgarh district, Madhya Pradesh
Geographic coordinates	24°44′50″N 78°50′00″E / 24.74722°N 78.83333°E / 24.74722; 78.83333Coordinates: 24°44′50″N 78°50′00″E / 24.74722°N 78.83333°E / 24.74722; 78.83333
Affiliation	Jainism
Festivals	Annual Mela Kartik Sudi 13-15
Governing body	Shri Dig. Jain Atishaya Kshetra Papouraji Managing Committee
Date established	12th century
Temple(s)	108

Paporaji, also called Pampapur, a temple site in Madhya Pradesh, India, 5 km east of Tikamgarh. is a center for Jain religion. This is an atishaya kshetra ("miraculous holy place"), with 108 shrines.

This place is more than 800 years old. There are two underground basements; one of them has three idols. The idol of Bhagwan Adinath is made of shining Black stone very attractive 2 feet & 8 inch in height. Idols in sides are also in same color & stone. Two of the three Adinath idols were installed in V.S. 1202 (AD 1145) according to the inscriptions on them and are oldest at this Kshetra.

In 1783, the ruler of Orchha Vikramajit (1776–1817) shifted his capital from Orchha to Tehri and renamed it Tikamgarh, which is in the vicinity of Papora. An inscription of Vikrama 1840 (AD 1784) suggests that the site then had emerged as a tirtha. Motilal Varni (an associate of Ganesh Varni), had established a religious school which has produced several distinguished scholars like Darbari Lal Kothia. He had donated his own collection of handwritten manuscripts to the school.

The oldest temples mainly from 18th and 19th century, are in the part termed Prachina Samucchaya, which includes two underground chambers (bhoyras) from the 12th entury. In 1860 AD, a unique cluster of 24 temples was constructed. At the same time the chariot-shaped temple that serves as the grand entrance gate was constructed. A number of temples were constructed in 1965. Many temples have notable old and modern wall paintings. Temple construction has gradually continues, with a circular Bahubali temple being among the recent ones.

Prayers and worship in temple of basement and in Chandraprabhu Mandir, with idol dated sam. 1524 is regarded to be helpful in materializing the desires of pilgrims. The temple of Lord Parshvanath contains a unique image of Padmavati devi.

In addition to the 108 temples, there exists a school and a library founded by Motilal Varni, an Udasina Ashrama and a hostel for the students. Four dharmashalas, a rest house and a dining hall is also in the tirth kshetra compound.

Atishaya – (i) Here exists an ancient little pond. It is said that when pilgrims dropped a paper listing of required utensils in this pond, the utensils were received from the pond and used by the pilgrims. After use and cleaning, these utensils were returned to the pond and utensils thus disappeared back into the water. This miracle is not seen nowadays because one person did not return the utensils received from the pond.