y between Jains and
Hindus survive in the Hindu saying that one should not take refuge in a
Jain temple, even to escape from a mad elephant; and in the rule that
a Jain beggar will not take alms from a Hindu unless he can perform
some service in return, though it may not equal the value of the alms.

10. Connection with Hinduism.

In other respects the Jains closely resemble the Hindus. Brahmans
are often employed at their weddings, they reverence the cow,
worship sometimes in Hindu temples, go on pilgrimages to the Hindu
sacred places, and follow the Hindu law of inheritance. The Agarwal
Bania Jains and Hindus will take food cooked with water together and
intermarry in Bundelkhand, although it is doubtful whether they do
this in the Central Provinces. In such a case each party pays a fine
to the Jain temple fund. In respect of caste distinctions the Jains
are now scarcely less strict than the Hindus. The different Jain
subcastes of Banias coming from Bundelkhand will take food together
as a rule, and those from Marwar will do the same. The Khandelwal
and Oswal Jain Banias will take food cooked with water together when
it has been cooked by an old woman past the age of child-bearing,
but not that cooked by a young woman. The spread of education has
awakened an increased interest among the Jains in their scriptures
and the tenets of their religion, and it is quite likely that the
tendency to conform to Hinduism in caste matters and ceremonies may
receive a check on this account. [278]

11. Temple and car festival.

The Jains display great zeal in the construction of temples in which
the images of the Tirthakars are enshrined. The temples are commonly of
the same fashion as those of the Hindus, with a short, roughly conical
spire tapering to a point at the apex, but they are frequently adorned
with rich carved stone and woodwork. There are fine collections of
temples at Muktagiri in Betul, Kundalpur in Damoh, and at Mount Abu,
Girnar, the hill of Parasnath in Chota Nagpur, and other places in
India. The best Jain temples are often found in very remote spots,
and it is suggested that they were built at times when the Jains
had to hide in such places to avoid Hindu persecution. And wherever
a community of Jain merchants of any size has been settled for a
generation or more several fine temples will probably be found. A
Jain Bania who has grown rich considers the building of one or more
temples to be the bes