Vallabhsuri

He was born on 26 October 1870 (Second day of bright half of Kartik month, Vikram Samvat 1927) at Vadodara, Gujarat. He was named Chhagan.[2] His parents Deepchand and Ichhabai died in his early years.[3][4]

He met Vijayanandsuri at Janiseri Jain Upashray, Vadodara. At the age of 17 years, he was initiated as a Jain monk Muni Vallabhvijay on 5 May 1887 (Vaishakh Sud 13, Vikram Samvat 1944) by Vijayanandsuri and became disciple of Muni Harshvijay at Radhanpur. In Vikram Samvat 1981, he was conferred the title of Acharya on Magshirsh Sudi 5 by Sumtivijay at Lahore. He also had the title of Pattadhar conferred on him by Jain sangha.[3][5][4]

Vallabhsuri was in Gujranwala for Chaturmas in 1947. Due to the partition of India, Gujaranwala fell in Pakistan. There was widespread communal violence across both nations. He refused travel by plane which was arranged by the Government of India as Jain monks do not use vehicles. He travelled by foot along with other Jains of Gujaranwala and entered India via the Wagah Border unharmed and reached Amritsar in September 1947.[3][4]

Throughout his life, Vallabhsuri placed emphasis on education and inspired Jains to build more educational institutions. He is well known as the founder of Shree Parshwanath Jain Vidyalaya in 1927 at Varkana Village in Pali district of Rajasthan. The seed which he sowed has taken shape of a dense tree in Godwad area of Rajasthan. He founded Mahavir Jain Vidyalaya (at Mumbai, Vadodara, Pune), Parshwanath Umed Mahavidyalaya (at Falna), Atmanand Jain College (at Ambala, Malerkotla), Atmanand Jain High School (Ludhiana, Ambala, Malerkotla, Bagwada, Hoshiarpur, Jandiala Guru) and other educational institutes.[2] He wrote some books and religious texts in Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi Languages. He also established Atmanand Jain Sabha at local level and Shri Atmanand Jain Mahasabha, Punjab in 1921 which is presently known as Shri Atmanand Jain Mahasabha (Uttari Bharat). On his 50th death anniversary Gachhadhipati Acharya of his clan Nityanand Suri founded Akhil Bhartiya Shree Atma Vallabh Jain Mahasangh which presently acts as the apex organisation of Vallabh Suri clan to carry forward his mission, He stressed on five basic works also known as Panchamrut for the overall growth and development of the Society. These are - Sewa (Service), Sangathan (Organisation), Shiksha (Education), Swawlamban (Self Reliance) and Sahitya (Literature). He was also instrumental in establishing Jain unity and accessibility of Jain literature. He supported Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent movement, use of khadi for independence of India.[3][6][7][4][1]

He died on 22 September 1954 (Bhadrapad Vadi 11, Vikram Samvat 2010), Tuesday at 2:32 am in Byculla, Mumbai.[2][3][4] More than two lakh people attended his funereal procession.[1] A memorial dedicated to him was built there later.

Shri Atma Vallabh Jain Smarak also known as Vijay Vallabh Smarak, a grand memorial in Delhi was erected to honour him. It is managed by Shree Atma Vallabh Jain Smarak Shikshan Nidhi under the guidance of Acharya Vijay Nityanand Suri - present Gachhadhipati and senior most Acharya of Vallabh clan..[6] India Post issued a postage stamp of Vallabhsuri on 21 February 2009 which depicted his image along with Vijay Vallabh Smarak as a background image. A large number of educational institutions set up by Acharya Vallabhsuri as well as his followers in his memory are imparting morals based education in various states - Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, H.P., U.P., Gujarat, Maharashtra. Year 2019-20 is being celebrated as the Saardh Janma Shatabdi Year (150th Birth Anniversary Year of Acharya Vallabh Suri.

• Tapa Gachchha

• Atma Vallabh Smarak Jain Mandir
• Postage stamp