Recent Developments
Because of numerous miracles reported at Kundalpur,
it was regarded to be an Atishaya Kshetra. A few decades ago it has been
identified as a Siddhakshetra also 2. Tiloyapannati mentions
Kundalgiri as the nirvana site of Kevali Shridhar Swami:
kundala girimmi charimo kevalananeesu siridharo
siddho ||1479||
There has
been a small charan-chinha (footprints) installed in front of the main temple
under an old chhatri, but no attention had been paid to it. In 1967 AD, Pandit
Jaganmohanlal Shastri and others carefully examined the charana-chinha and
found the inscription “kundalagirau shri shridhara svamy” on it. After
this discovery, Kundalpur came to be
regard as a Siddhakshetra.
Several gajarath pratishthas with festivals have
been held at Kundalpur. There are many idols that were installed in years sam.
1861, 1888, 1889, 1935, 1948 and 1958. These are likely to have been installed
locally at Kundalpur. There are about twenty idols at Kundalpur installed by
Jivaraj Papdival in year 1548. There were installed under supervision of
Bhattaraka Jinachandra at Mudasa. From Mudasa they had been taken all over
India and are now found in thousands of temples. Jinachandra’s predecessor
Shubhachandra was a guru-bhai of Bhattaraka Devendrakirti of Chanderi, both
being pupils of Bhattaraka Padmanandi 15. In the past, idols
and property of several temples in the region had been transferred to Kundalpur
including one from Raneh (sam. 1995), one from Salaiya and two from Hatta 11.
For a long
duration the tirtha was administered by the shravakas of nearby town
Patera, led by Badkur Ramlalji. In the twentieth century, better transportation
allowed the shravakas of Damoh to get involved. A committee has since then
administered the tirtha. Seth Vrindavan Nathuram of Damoh was successful in
restarting the annual fair in sam. 1957, after the government-imposed ban since
sam. 1928 1. Late Seth Lalchand Jain and Rajaram Bajaj of
Damoh were prominent leaders in the early part of the 20th century 8.
The tirtha-kshetra once owned several villages, however in 1959AD the zamindari
system was abolished. Still the tirtha has continued to prosper. Because of the
tranquility of the tirtha, it has been a favorite retreat of scholars like
Brahmachari Gokulprasadji and Pandit Jagannmohanlalji. Acharya Vidyasagarji along with a part of his
large sangha, has spent several chatrumas periods at Kundalpur,
attracting large number of pilgrims. New dharmashalas and a new lecture hall
have been constructed and some projects are in progress.
References