This pata is a sacred thing because of the site depicted.
It is a record or a map of pilgrimage. Mount Shatrunjaya is a temple city, which consists of 10 temple complexes, 100 temples and over 850 small, small shrines. These are the small white structures you can see through this painting.
[INSECTS HUMMING AND BIRDS CHIRPING]
Mountain Shatrunjaya is surrounded by countryside. To the left of the pata there is snake and peacock, and you know snake and peacock, they are enemies. Due to the sacred site, the natural enemies give up their animosity and they coexist.
The bottom right-hand corner is the town Palitana. The pilgrim people come and start from here and they follow the path up the hill, climbing over three thousand steps. If you look closely on this pata, many pilgrims are walking barefoot. Others are carried by a chair, known as doli. When this journey starts, they climb the mountain singing, chanting and creating atmosphere around them, whole communities travelling together.
On the top, the body of deceased monk lying in a crescent moon shape represents the thousands of Jain saints who achieved final liberation from this mountain. In context of Jainism, liberation is the ultimate goal. It is the total purified state of the soul and after that, no coming back to the cycle of birth and death.
For those who are unable to visit these pilgrimage sites, such people can do a Bhav Yatra. Bhav Yatra is a mental pilgrimage guided by a trained Jain scholar or Jain leader. The community comes together in front of sacred pata to perform rituals and these rituals include Chaitya Vandan, worship with incense, oil lamps, food, offerings of the flowers, and prayers and hymns are spoken as part of it. These practices are equal to the same thing as performed at the actual site.
