Abstract
Jain pilgrimages are an important event of communal identity since the Jains, an Indian merchant caste, do not have a territory of their own. The annual pilgrimage, for the most part on foot, assembles hundreds or even thousands of pilgrims who are prepared to confront bodily pain, hunger and thirst in order to celebrate the founders of their religion. After having walked on foot for days through the sparsely populated countryside pilgrims head for the Shatrunjaya mountains with 108 temples and about 1000 smaller shrines. This temple complex is conceived of as one of the few places of eternity within a vast and constantly changing universe. The article will discuss the composition, organisation and ritual performances during the pilgrimage, its underlying conception of the universe and the constant re-affirmation of Jain identity through the veneration of their ancestral spiritual founders.