पालीताना मंदिर

( Palitana temples )

The Palitana temples, often known only as Palitana, are a large complex of Jain temples located on Shatrunjaya hills near Palitana in Bhavnagar district, Gujarat, India. Also known as "Padliptapur of Kathiawad" in historic texts, the dense collection of almost 900 small shrines and large temples have led many to call Palitana the "city of temples". It is one of the most sacred sites of the Svetambara tradition within Jainism. The earliest temples in the complex date as far back as the 11th century CE.

The Palitana temple complex is near the top of the hill, in groups called Tonks (Tuks) along the hills' various ridges. The main temple is dedicated to Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara; it is the holiest shrine for the Svetambara Murtipujaka sect. Marble is the preferred material of construction. More than 400,000 pilgrims visited the site in 2010.

Jains believe that 23 of the 24 Tirthankaras, all except Neminatha, sanctified Palita...Read more

The Palitana temples, often known only as Palitana, are a large complex of Jain temples located on Shatrunjaya hills near Palitana in Bhavnagar district, Gujarat, India. Also known as "Padliptapur of Kathiawad" in historic texts, the dense collection of almost 900 small shrines and large temples have led many to call Palitana the "city of temples". It is one of the most sacred sites of the Svetambara tradition within Jainism. The earliest temples in the complex date as far back as the 11th century CE.

The Palitana temple complex is near the top of the hill, in groups called Tonks (Tuks) along the hills' various ridges. The main temple is dedicated to Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara; it is the holiest shrine for the Svetambara Murtipujaka sect. Marble is the preferred material of construction. More than 400,000 pilgrims visited the site in 2010.

Jains believe that 23 of the 24 Tirthankaras, all except Neminatha, sanctified Palitana with visits. This makes the site particularly important to the Jain tradition. These temples are reached by most pilgrims and visitors by climbing around 3500 stone steps along a hilly trail. Some hire pallanquins at the base of the hills, to be carried to the temple complex. Palitana, along with the Shikharji in Jharkhand, is believed to be the holiest of all pilgrimage places by the Jain community.

Digambara Jains have only one dedicated temple in Palitana. Hingraj Ambikadevi (known as Hinglaj Mata) is considered as the presiding deity of the hill, who is a Jain Yakshini (attendant deity). As the temple complex was built to be an abode for the divine, no one is allowed to stay overnight, including the priests.

History
The entrance to the temples

According to the Shatrunjaya Mahatmya, the first Tirthankara Rishabha sanctified the hill where he delivered his first sermon. It was his grandson Pundarika, grandson of Rishabha who attained Nirvana at Shatrunjay, hence the hill was originally known as "Pundarikgiri". There exists a marble image of Pundaraksvami consecrated in V.S. 1064 (1120 CE) by Shersthi Ammeyaka to commemorate the sallekhana of a muni belonging to the Vidhyadhara Kula.[1] Bharata Chakravartin, the father of Pundarik and half-brother of Bahubali, also came to Shatrunjaya many times. He is also credited with building a temple here in honour of his father Rishabha. Legendarily it is also associated with many other Tirthankaras.[A][3][4][5][6]:249

The Palitana temples were built over a period of 900 years starting in the 11th century.[7] Kumarpal Solanki, a great Jain patron, probably built the earliest temples.[citation needed]It is said that sculptors' skills and capacity to carve with abrasive cords (not tools) the intricate designs was paid on the basis of the marble dust that they had collected every evening after their hard labour. They were destroyed by Turkish Muslims invaders in 1311 AD, when the saint Jinaprabhasuri, who was then 50 years old, presided over the temples. Two years later, the rebuilding began. While some temple building activity took place under Samara Shah, it was only two centuries later that it picked up momentum, when in 1593, Hiravijayasuri (Chief of Tapa Gaccha) organised a major pilgrimage to this location to attend the consecration ceremony of the temple built for Rishabha by Tej Pal Soni, a merchant. Following this, there was proliferation of temples here.[4]

Most of the temples which are now present date to the 16th century. In 1656, Shah Jahan's son Murad Baksh (the then Governor of Gujarat) granted Palitana villages to the prominent Jain merchant Shantidas Jhaveri, a Svetambara Jain. Subsequently, all taxes were also exempted, helping the temple town prosper further. It was brought under the control of the Anandji Kalyanji Trust in 1730 to manage not only Palitana temples but also many other temples of Svetambara Jains, since the Mughal period.[4][8]

History also makes a mention that Lunia Seth Tilokchand, a merchant from Ajmer led a very large contingent of pilgrims to the Shatrunjaya temples when he heard that there were some disturbances at the Angarshah Pir on the hills. But he continued his pilgrimage and pleased the Pir by his offerings. This tradition is followed to this day by his descendants by offering an expensive cloth to cover the dome of the shrine.[9]

The most important temples on the hill are those of Adinath, Kumarpal, Sampratiraja, Vimal Shah, Sahasrakuta, Ashtapada and Chaumukh.[10] Some of them are named after the wealthy patrons who paid for the construction.

Many of these temples are kept in “mint” condition with large donations provided by the rich Jain merchant community.[11]

Palitana was a princely state of India till it merged with India after independence in August 1947.[12] It was the capital of the Kingdom of Rajpipla and Gohil Rajput clan.

^ Some Inscriptions and Images on Mount Satrunjaya, Ambalal P Shah, Mahavir Jain Vidyalay Suvarna Mahotsav Granth Part 1 January 2002, p. 164 ^ Shah 1987. ^ Davidson & Gitlitz 2002, p. 419. ^ a b c Dundas 2002, p. 222. ^ Ku 2011, pp. 1-22. ^ Weber, Albrecht F. Über das Çatrumjaya Māhātmyam. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Jaina. Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes herausgegeben von der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, I. Band, No. 4. Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus, 1858 (Translated as "The Śatruñjaya Māhātmyam. Edited by James Burgess." Indian Antiquary30 [1901] 239-251, 288-308) ^ Glistening spires of Palitana temples. ^ Yashwant K. Malaiya. "Shatrunjaya-Palitana Tirtha". Retrieved 28 November 2011. ^ Lodha 2013, p. 479. ^ Bansal 2005, p. 102. ^ Bruyn et al. 2010, p. 597. ^ Desai 2007, p. 247.


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