With reference to the religious practices in India, the “Sthanakvasi” sect belongs to
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) Jainism
The Sthanakvasi (also spelt Sthanakavasi) are a Jain sect, a modern subsect of the Shvetambara ("white-clad") branch of Jainism. They pray and perform religious duties in a sthanak (a monks' meeting hall) rather than a temple, and they reject image worship.
- ✓ (b) Sthanakvasi is a subsect of the Shvetambara branch of Jainism, a reformist sect that criticised image worship and the temple cult. IGNOU traces the reform to about the 15th century, while Britannica dates the subsect's founding to the 17th century by Lava of Surat, who belonged to an earlier sect that also rejected idol worship.
- ✗ (a) Buddhism is a separate religion; the sthanak (monks' meeting hall) and the rejection of image worship belong to Jain practice.
- ✗ (c) Vaishnavism is a Hindu tradition centred on Vishnu, and Sthanakvasi is not one of its sects.
- ✗ (d) Shaivism is a Hindu tradition centred on Shiva, and Sthanakvasi is not one of its sects.
Remember · Sthanakvasi = a Jain (Shvetambara) reformist sect that rejects idol worship and prays in a sthanak, not a temple.
Sources
- IGNOU eGyanKosh, Jainism (Unit 3): Sthanakvasi sect among the Shvetambaras ↗ · reference work “From among the Sevetambaras, a reformist sect arose about the 15th century by name Sthanakvasi Sect: criticizing image-worship, and temple-cult because it was not even mentioned once in the Scriptures.”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Sthanakavasi ↗ · reference work “The subsect was founded in the 17th century by Lava of Surat, a member of an earlier non-image-worshipping sect … differs from the Shvetambara sect in its rejection of image worship and temple ritual.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·