Palitana Jain temple

The path winds through 3950 steps for a trying 3.5 km up the scrub-covered Shatrunjaya Hills. Much of the track is unshaded and the higher you climb the more the heat haze skimmers across the plains for below. And then, after two hours and a quarter, Palitana spreads white and crenellated above you. Camelot must have been like this, rising above the plains, wrapped in its own mystique. Some of the 863 temples of Palitana were built in the 11th century. Construction activity, however, spanned 900 years. As successive worshippers of the non-violent and trading Jain community designed their own temples, they cleared the crest of the hill, levelled it into terraces, walled and fortified most of them.

Visitors naturally wonder how such a mammoth task of covering the entire summit with temples has been achieved. The answer is simple. Generations after generation of Jain devotees have spent money on some construction or the other on the Shatrunjaya. This is aptly described in Ras Mala thus: There is hardly a city in India, through its length and breadth, that has not supplied at one time or other, contributions of wealth to the edifices which crown the hill of Palitana.

Because of its sanctity, every devout Jain aspires to climb to the top of the mountain at least once in his lifetime. The journey is arduous. The walk up the stone stairway hewn into the mountain face takes about an hour and a half. For those unable or unaccustomed to the strain, sling-chairs are available at a bargain. The code for the climbers is stringent, in keeping with the rigours of the Jain faith. Food must neither be eaten nor carried on the way.

The descent must begin before it is evening, for no soul can remain atop the sacred mountain during the night and Gods are to be left alone. Such is the mystique of Palitana, the summit of Shatrunjaya. The temple covered Shatrunjaya hill, 2000 ft over Palitana town, believed to span 863 shrines in all has some really exquisite marble temples of great religious and artistic importance, containing arches, carved pillars and bejeweled idols. The temples date from 11th to the 20th century. The summit is the most revered of Jain temple complexes, surpassing those of Mt Abu, Gwalior, Girnar and Bihar. Palitana town is a good place to shop for textile related handicrafts and has a Jain kala sansta. 108 SAMVASARAN MANDIR : The temple in the town of Palitana has 108 idols and sculptures. JAIN MUSEUMS : Palitana has 2 trust run Jain museums. The Shri Vishal Jain Kala Sansthan and the Stapitya kala graha, with cloth paintings, manuscripts, palm leaf books, book covers, ivory sculpture and paintings on ivory and figurines.

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