- Vijayanandsuri
Acharya Vijayanand Suri or Atmaram ji was the first
Swetambar Murtipujak Jain monk in modern times to receive the title ofAcharya [Mangilal Bhutoria, Itihas ki Amar Bel- Oswal, Ppriyadarshi Prakashan, Calcutta, 1988] .He was born in 1821 CE in a
Kapoor Khatri family. At the age of 16, he was initiated in the Dhundhia (i.e.Sthanakvasi ) Jain order. Later in VS 1875, he was initiated by Muni Buddhivijaya ofTapa Gachchha .In 1886, he was conferred the title of Acharya after a gap of nearly four centuries.
In 1893, he sent a young Jain lay scholar
Virchand Gandhi to America to participate in theWorld Parliament of Religions [Jainism: The World of Conquerors By Natubhai Shah, 1998Sussex Academic Press] . Virchand Gandhi is now regarded to be the father ofAmerican Jainism .He was followed by Vijay Vallabh Suri as the head of the Tapa Gachchha.
ee also
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Tapa Gachchha References
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