History of Jainism Hindu god Krishna. Jains consider their religion to be eternal. The two main sects of Jainism, the "Digambara" and the "Śvētāmbara" sect, likely started forming about the 3rd century BCE and the schism was complete by about 5th century CE. These sects later subdivided into several sub-sects such as Sthānakavāsī and Terapanthis. Jainism co-existed with Buddhism and Hinduism in ancient and medieval India. Many of its historic temples were built near the Buddhist and Hindu temples in 1st millennium CE. After the 12th-century, the temples, pilgrimage and naked ascetic tradition of Jainism suffered persecution during the Muslim rule, with the
Sadhu had 6,000 sadhvis of which less than 100 belong to the Digambara tradition and rest to Svetambara. The processes and rituals of becoming a sadhu vary with sect; in almost all sects, a sadhu is initiated by a guru, who bestows upon the initiate a new name, as well as a mantra, (or sacred sound or phrase), which is generally known only to the sadhu and the guru and may be repeated by the initiate as part of meditative practice. Becoming a sadhu is a path followed by millions. It is supposed to be the fourth phase in a Hindu's