Vijayanandsuri
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Acharya Vijayanand Suri or Atmaram ji was the first Swetambar Murtipujak Jain monk in modern times to receive the title of Acharya [1].
He was born in 1821 CE in a Kapoor Khatri family. At the age of 16, he was initiated in the Dhundhia (i.e. Sthanakvasi) Jain order. Later in VS 1875, he was initiated by Muni Buddhivijaya of Tapa Gachchha.
In 1886, he was conferred the title of Acharya after a gap of nearly four centuries.
In 1893, he sent a young Jain lay scholar Virchand Gandhi to America to participate in the World Parliament of Religions[2]. Virchand Gandhi is now regarded to be the father of American Jainism.
He was followed by Vijay Vallabh Suri as the head of the Tapa Gachchha.
