Vallabhsuri
| Acharya Vallabhsuri | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Official name | Acharya Vijay Vallabh Suri |
| Religion | Jainism |
| Sect | Svetambara |
| Personal | |
| Born | Chhagan October 26, 1870 Baroda (now Vadodara, Gujarat, India) |
| Died | 22 September 1954 (aged 83) Byculla, Bombay (now Mumbai) |
| Parents | Deepchand, Icchabai |
| Senior posting | |
| Successor | Samudra Suri |
| Religious career | |
| Initiation | Vallabhvijay 5 May 1887 Radhanpur by Vijayanandsuri (Atmaram) |
Acharya Vijay Vallabhsuri was a Jain monk. He was a disciple of Vijayanandsuri. He worked for the religious as well as improving the social life of people. He worked actively in Punjab so he was given honorific Punjab Kesari.
He was born on 26 October 1870 (Second day of bright half of Kartik month, Vikram Samvat 1927) at Vadodara, Gujarat. He was named Chhagan. His parents Deepchand and Ichhabai died in his early years.
He met Vijayanandsuri at Janiseri Jain Upashray, Vadodara. At the age of 17 years, he was initiated as a Jain monk Muni Vallabhvijay on 5 May 1887 (Jayesth Vad 9, Vikram Samvat 1944) by Vijayanandsuri and became disciple of Muni Harshvijay at Radhanpur. In Vikram Samvat 1981, he was conferred the title of Acharya on Magshirsh Sudi 5 by Sumtivijay at Lahore. He also had the title of Pattadhar conferred on him by Jain sangha.
Vallabhsuri was in Gujranwala for Chaturmas in 1947. Due to the partition of India, Gujaranwala fell in Pakistan. There was widespread communal violence across both nations. He refused travel by plane which was arranged by the Government of India as Jain monks do not use vehicles. He travelled by foot along with other Jains of Gujaranwala and entered India via the Wagah Border unharmed and reached Amritsar in September 1947.
Throughout his life, Vallabhsuri placed emphasis on education and inspired Jains to build more educational institutions. He is well known as the founder of Shree Parshwanath Jain Vidyalaya in 1927 at Varkana Village in Pali district of Rajasthan. The seed which he sowed has taken shape of a dense tree in Godwad area of Rajasthan. He founded Mahavir Jain Vidyalaya (at Mumbai, Vadodara, Pune), Parshwanath Umed Mahavidyalaya (at Falna), Atmanand Jain College (at Ambala, Malerkotla), Atmanand Jain High School (Ludhiana, Ambala, Malerkotla, Bagwada, Hoshiarpur, Jandiala Guru) and other educational institutes. He wrote some books and religious texts in Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi Languages. He also established Atmanand Jain Sabha. He was also instrumental in establishing Jain unity and accessibility of Jain literature. He supported Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent movement for independence of India.
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