Digambara Terapanth Digambara Terapanth Digambara Terapanth is one of the sects of Digambara Jainism, the other being the "Bispanthi" sect. It formed out of strong opposition to the religious domination of traditional religious leaders called "bhattarakas" during the 12-16th century A.D, for the bhattarakas starting deviating from the original/Mula jain customs. They oppose the worship of various minor gods and goddesses. Some Terapanthi practices, like not using flowers in worship, gradually spread throughout most of North Indian Jainism as well. The Terapanthi movement was born out of the "Adhyatma" movement that arose in 1626 AD (V.S. 1683) in Agra. Its leading proponent
Jain meditation or non-Jains. It is important to note that these developments happened mainly among Śvētāmbara sects, while Digambara groups generally did not develop new modernist meditation systems. Digambara sects instead promote the practice of self-study (Svādhyāya) as a form of meditation, influenced by the work of Kundakunda. This practice of self study (reciting scriptures and thinking about the meaning) is included in the practice of equanimity (sāmāyika) which is the spiritual practice emphasized by 20th century Digambara sects. The modern era saw the rise of a new Śvētāmbara sect, the Śvētāmbara Terapanth, founded by Ācārya Bhikṣu, who was said to be