This paper explores how mobility and technology are entangled in creating a shared mental map of the Jain world. As mendicants and other influential figures belonging to the Jain tradition travel between communities, and subsequently report on it to different audiences, a shared understanding of the geography and boundaries of the Jain world emerges. The practices of peripatetic mendicants and pilgrimage routes have provided networks of connections between Jains in different locations since early times. Although this process is thus by no means new, I argue its workings merit scholarly attention as both the technology and the mobility aspects that shape the shared imagination of a connected Jain world are subject to change, and have changed especially significantly since the mid 19th century. I suggest three key aspects to consider in this regard:
First, the growth of overseas communities from the middle of the 19th century onwards created a new reality where some spaces seemed destined to remain entirely outside of the spiritual networks, with no opportunities to receive peripatetic mendicants and no places of pilgrimage on offer. This new situation challenged traditional rules and customs regarding what kinds of Jain mendicant and pandit mobility could be appropriate. The fact that some mendicant lineages, as well as independent mendicants and spiritual gurus chose to start travelling by mechanical means has created new spiritual connections, and as such was of course an important step in the process of rapprochement.
Second, the scale and mode of reporting and information sharing have changed considerably with the consecutive adoption of new technologies. Despite questions of propriety, discussions, and resistance, new technologies were adopted not just in order to amplify Jain teachings for larger potential audiences, but also to connect Jain communities and integrate more remote or indeed overseas communities into the Jain imagination, thus enhancing the idea of a more or less unified global Jain-ness.
Third, there has seldom been full consensus regarding which types of mobility and which types of media/technology use are permissible to Jains, especially Jain mendicants. Some groups and lineages were quick to adopt new technologies of print, amplification, recording, and digital media whereas others were hesitant or remained resistant. Whereas mobility using mechanical means has largely remained forbidden to fully ordained mendicants, some groups and lineages have sought exceptions and work-arounds to enable their physical presence outside of South Asia. Influential Jains who are not (yet) initiated are less constrained by regulations and customs regarding both mobility and technology use. This variety of both mobility and the adoption of technology has implications on who can influence perceptions of connection, boundaries, centres, and peripheries, and in what way. This imbalance also adds an element of tension and strategy to the inherently fluid process whereby imagined geographies are shaped.
The Mendicant as Geographer examines two cases where the use of new or newly adopted technologies by influential Jain figures to report on travels and encounters clearly – if not explicitly or necessarily intentionally - provokes a reconsidering or even redrawing of the imagined map of Jainism, leading to the inclusion or indeed more central position of previously excluded or peripheral spaces.
The first case under consideration is a travelogue ‘Āphrikā māṁ pravās varṇan’ by Yati Hemcandra. The travelogue was published by the Loṅkā Gacch Jain Sangh of Porbandar in 1952. The front matter indicates that the publication was made possible by donations raised from Jain individuals and organizations in Jamnagar, Porbandar, Dhrafa, Kalavad, and Mumbai. This report beautifully illustrates the breaking through of stereotypical ideas of foreignness, as the author describes his impressions of peripheral Jain communities in India (Kutch and Malabar) as well as the overseas communities dotted around the Western Indian Ocean (Aden, Djibouti, Abyssinia, and British East Africa - including Tanganyika, Zanzibar, Kenya, and Uganda). The second case is a much more recent iteration of the same phenomenon, and looks at a selection of social media pages of prominent figures within the Jain tradition who have travelled extensively to Jain communities within and outside of South Asia and have been vocal about it on social media. One example which will be discussed is Mumukshu Rishi Zaveri’s Instagram-page. This US-based professional is preparing to take diksha. However, he is now travelling extensively in the US, Europe, and Australia, visiting Jain organizations and reporting on his encounters on Instagram.
Although these cases are more than 70 years apart, and make use of very different technologies, the paper argues that the insights and descriptions of overseas communities of Jains and their different social, cultural, and environmental contexts provide the audience with a new impression of interconnection and shared experience, making not the travelling itself, but the reporting of it using different media technologies, essential to the integration of overseas communities into an imagined community of Jains spanning the globe.
This paper explores how mobility and technology are entangled in creating a shared mental map of the Jain world. As mendicants and other influential Jain figures travel between communities, and report to different audiences, a shared understanding of the geography and boundaries of the Jain world emerges. Although this is not new, I argue its workings merit scholarly attention as the aspects of technology and mobility that shape the shared imagination of a connected Jain world have been subject to change since the mid-19th century.
This paper examines a 1952 travelogue and social media pages of prominent Jain figures (2024-2025) to show how the use of newly adopted technologies by these travelling Jain figures provokes a reconsidering of the imagined map of Jainism, suggesting the inclusion or repositioning of previously excluded or peripheral spaces, which is essential to the integration of overseas communities into an imagined global community of Jains.