Ghaṇṭākarṇa Mahāvīra and the Jain Tantric Diagrams of Temple Bells

In John E. Cort’s chapter on the Jain deity Ghaṇṭākarṇa, or “Bell-Ears,” in the influential collection of translated primary sources, Tantra in Practice, he explains that the worship of Bell-Ears is found exclusively among Śvetāmbara Murtipūjaka Jains, and in particular is special to one mendicant lineage, the Tapā Gaccha. He is one of the fifty-two vīras or "heroes," a class of powerful male deities who protect faithful Jains and defeat enemies of the Jain community (Cort 2000, 418).

This understanding that Ghaṇṭākarṇa is a uniquely Śvetāmbara deity is understandable, because his icons are not found in Digambara temples, and his mustachioed, bow-wielding icon stands at the entrances to most Tapā Gaccha Śvetāmbara temples today. In addition, the nineteenth-century Śvetāmbara shrine to a mūrti of Ghaṇṭākarṇa in Mahudi, Gujarat, established by the monk Buddhisāgara, is one of the most popular temple complexes in all of Gujarat, for Jains and non-Jains. The Śvetāmbara temple to Ghaṇṭākarṇa Mahāvīra in Mahudi is best known as the site of a massive homa ritual on Diwali that attracts thousands of devotees.

But Śvetāmbara image-worshiping Jains are not the only ones to engage with a deity or demon called Ghaṇṭākarṇa, or “Bell-Ears.” As Fabrizio Ferrari explains in his study of texts, sculptures, and regional traditions associated with Ghaṇṭākarṇa, “the name Ghaṇtākarṇa (Bell-Ears) is...assigned to a yakṣa, a piśāca, a gaṇa, various guardian deities (dvārapāla, kṣtrapāla, lokapāla) and a god worshiped for his power to destroy diseases in general and, particularly, cutaneous conditions” (Ferrari, “Narrating Ghaṇṭākarṇa,” 2018, 187). In early sculpture and literature–as early as the Kuṣāṇa period–Ghaṇṭākarṇa become known as one of Śiva’s attendants, or gaṇas, and Ferrari has published several early examples of the deity with bells dangling from his ears.

For Digambara Jains, Ghaṇṭākarṇa may be first mentioned in medieval image consecration manuals, which prescribe the drawing of mantras of supplication to him on temple bells. To this day, in Digambara temples, Ghaṇṭākarṇa icons are not present, but if you look closely at temple bells, you will find him. This talk will discuss in detail the massive bell inscribed with Ghaṇṭākarṇa Mahāvīra yantras at the Digambara Lāl Mandir in Delhi, said to date from the seventeenth century (photo 1). At some point, Digambaras, like other communities, developed Ghaṇṭākarṇa as a protector and healing deity of their own, but instead of depicting him with bells on his ears, they depicted him on bells, understanding him in part as a protector of the temple.

This unstudied Digambara history of Ghaṇṭākarṇa helps to explain a feature of the Śvetāmbara Ghaṇṭākarṇa temple in Mahudi that I have never seen at another temple, Jain or otherwise. In between the main temple to Ghaṇṭākarṇa Mahavīra and a smaller temple to Buddhisāgara sits a tower of twelve narrow steps leading up to a copper bell covered in silver coating (photo 2). Devotees climb to the top of the stairs to ring the bell, and they must do so carefully. Signs forbid anyone younger than twelve from attempting the climb, since the steps are steep, especially as you near the top, and devotees must grasp onto metal handles so that they will not fall backwards. When I traveled to the Ghaṇṭākarṇa Mahāvīra temple in 2024, I pushed my fear of heights aside and gingerly climbed the steps to ring the bell. When I reached the top, I was able to see a Sanskrit mantra of four verses to Ghaṇṭākarṇa inscribed on the bell.

This talk will thus put in conversation a popular Śvetāmbara deity with other Ghaṇṭākarṇa traditions, especially Śaiva and Digambara. It will also examine an unstudied use of yantras: their inscriptions on temple bells, raising questions about how inscribed mantras work in different traditions. Sending apotropaic mantras into the world via the ringing of bells finds parallels with the use of Tibetan Buddhist prayer wheels, bells, and flags. To my knowledge, “activating” the mantras of yantras by inscribing them on temple bells is unique to Jains, but it is likely a practice in other communities, so I am eager to present this research to a wider audience.