{{short description|First Jain pilgrimage site located outside of India}} {{use dmy dates|date=December 2016}} {{use Indian English|date=December 2016}} {{Infobox religious building | religious_affiliation = Jainism | image = Siddhachalam1.jpg | alt = Siddhachalam | caption = The main temple at Siddhachalam, Digambara on the left and Śvētāmbara on the right | image_size = 250 | map_size = 200 | map_type = USA New Jersey#USA | map_alt = USA New Jersey | map_caption = Location within New Jersey | coordinates = {{coord|40.95478|-74.95188|region:US|display=inline,title}} | location = 65 Mud Pond Road, Blairstown, New Jersey, United States | festivals = Mahavir Jayanti | temple_quantity = 2 | established = 1983 | creator = Sushil Kumarji | website = {{url|http://www.siddhachalam.org/}} }} {{Jainism}}
'''Siddhachalam''' is the first Jain Tirtha (pilgrimage site) located outside of India. Founded in 1983 by Sushil Kumar, it is located on a 108-acre (44ha) site in rural New Jersey, United States.{{sfn|Richardson|2014|p=162}} Siddhachalam (Hindi: ''siddha'', liberated souls; ''achal'', a permanent place, as a mountain) literally means the abode of liberated souls.
==History== In 1980, Sushil Kumar encouraged his disciples to acquire a long-abandoned children's summer camp and founded an ''ashram'' there to teach ''ahimsa''. Kumar reportedly engaged there in extended samadhi meditation.{{sfn|Richardson|2014|p=162}} Twelve years later, he encouraged the community to establish temples in homage to ''Jinas''. The ashram maintains the only Jain monastery outside India.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-TiNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA12 |title=Strangers in This Land|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786457274|last1=Allen Richardson|first1=E.|date=10 January 2014}}</ref> Siddhachalam has become an important center of Jain conferences and an important Jain pilgrimage.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G1F2AAAAMAAJ |title=Williams on South Asian Religions and Immigration|publisher=Aldershot|isbn=9780754638568|last1=Williams|first1=Raymond Brady|year=2004}}</ref> The center houses idols from all Jain sects, given that American Jains have sought to not bring in sectarian differences from India.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xPQMAQAAMAAJ |title=Indians in America|publisher=Rawat Publications|isbn=9788170336389|last1=Sheth|first1=Pravin N.|year=2001}}</ref>
In 2012, Siddhachalam became the site for the world's first full-scale, complete replication of Shikharji, the most important place of pilgrimage for the Jains. Shikharji at Siddhachalam is the first Jain place of pilgrimage outside India.{{sfn|Richardson|2014|p=174}}
The main temple has marble idols of the tirthankaras Rishabha, Pārśva, Mahāvīra, Chandraprabha and Shantinatha.{{sfn|Richardson|2014|p=162}} There is also a small temple where the main idol is Pārśva.
The ashram is also a nature preserve and wildlife sanctuary.<ref name="google.com">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hZET2sSUVsgC&pg=PA251 |title=Critical Companion to George Orwell|publisher=Facts On File, Incorporated|isbn=9781438108735|last1=Quinn|first1=Edward|date=14 May 2014}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Religion|North America|United States|New Jersey}} * Brampton Jain Temple * Jainism in the United States
==References== === Citations === {{reflist}}
=== Sources === * {{citation |last=Richardson |first=E. Allen |title=Seeing Krishna in America: The Hindu Bhakti Tradition of Vallabhacharya in India and Its Movement to the West |url={{Google books|BWQMBAAAQBAJ|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} |publisher=McFarland |date=2014 |isbn=9780786459735 }}
==External links== * [http://www.siddhachalam.org Siddhachalam Jain Tirth]
{{Jain temples in North America}} {{Jainism Topics}} {{Authority control}}
Category:20th-century Jain temples Category:Indian-American culture in New Jersey Category:Jain temples in the United States Category:Temples in New Jersey Category:Religious organizations established in 1983