Rajasthan Tour Diaries
Day 4
Ranakpur
Things to be done while in Ranakpur are Jeep Safari and Visit to the Jain Temple.
This region is a fertile region thanks to the aravilli hills and abundance of rainfall and so there is lush greens and wild forests everywhere. A place for jeep safari in the foothills of Aravalli Range as well as for Jains a sacred place for the famous and most beautiful temple for Tirthankara Adinatha is what Rankapur is famous for.
Having driven down from Khimsar we reached the place around 4.30 pm and immediately shifted to the individual jeeps for the Jungle Safari where we had the sighting of one leopard.
The jeep safari starts either in the morning time or at 4 30pm in the evening. The jeep drivers give you a thrill of your lifetime driving over rocks, climbing steep hillock and through water. Though a tad scary but one cannot but admire the driving skills of these jeep drivers. From a distance you can even see the Kumbalgarh Fort too.
Then they take to places where the leopards usually are there. The driver cum guide showed us some of the caves which might be the ones which may be used by these leopards. We were lucky to spot a leopard which was sitting at the top of the hill and viewing all of us down below. We also saw Peacocks, Rabbits apart from the Leopard.
There is a lot of agriculture activities and grazing of cattle that's happening in here with women, children and men going about their activity very calmly. The driver said only after it's dark, its very dangerous in here and so the villagers are careful to return back home before the darkness sets in. While the animals go about their own ways if they dont feel threatened, sometimes they also pounce on the cattle if they are very hungry. So like in olden days here we could see how the humans and wild animals are coexisting without much of man-animal conflict. Also because of the wildlife the tourist earnings are there for the prosperity of the people in and around these hilly regions.
Jain Temple What a beauty and when we reached in the evening where the Lord is seen using only diyas where no electric bulbs are used it was so tranquil and the blessed feeling settled into the entire body soul and mind. Its truly a blessing to see the temple in the earthen lights. They do not use electric bulbs inside the temple and it is definitely a divine experience to see the Lord in the sparkles of the ghee lamps and get a peacefulness spreading throughout the body. Even in that small light the grandeur of the temple was so much visible.
The photos given below are all taken from the internet and wherever possible have tried to give the credit to the photographer. This is just to make people understand how intricate the carvings in marble are and what a sight for the eyes to behold and keep wondering how great our ancestors were in terms of creating such timeless beauties.
PC:
- Nagarjun Kandukuru - Chaumukha Jain temple at Ranakpur
- Stamp released by India Post
- By Ingo Mehling - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Antoine Taveneaux - Own work
- G41rn8 - Own work
Here is the info from wiki
Ranakpur is a village located in Desuri tehsil near Sadri town in the Pali district of Rajasthan in western India. It is located between Jodhpur and Udaipur, 162 km from Jodhpur and 91 km from Udaipur, in a valley on the western side of the Aravalli Range. The nearest railway station to reach Ranakpur is Falna and Rani railway station. Ranakpur is easily accessed by road from Udaipur, Pali district in Rajasthan. Ranakpur is one of the most famous places to visit in Pali, Rajasthan and is widely known for its marble Jain temple, said to be the most spectacular of the Jain temples.
Jain Temple
The renowned Jain temple at Ranakpur
is dedicated to Tirthankara Adinatha. Local legend has it
that Dharma Shah, a local Jain businessperson, started construction of the
temple in the 15th century following a divine vision. The temple honours
Adinath, the first Tirthankar of the present half-cycle (avasarpiṇī) according
to Jain cosmology. The town of Ranakpur and the temple are named after the
provincial ruler monarch, Rana Kumbha who supported the construction
of the temple.
CE copper-plate record, inscriptions in the
temple and a Sanskrit text Soma-Saubhagya Kavya. Inspired by a dream
of a celestial vehicle, Dharna
Shah, a Porwal from Ghanerao, commenced its construction
in 1389, under the patronage of Rana Kumbha, then ruler
of Mewar. The architect who oversaw the project was named
Dwepa. There is an inscription on a pillar near the main shrine stating
that in 1439 Deepaka, an architect, constructed the temple at the direction of
Dharanka, a devoted Jain. When the ground floor was completed,
Acharya Soma Sundar Suri of Tapa Gaccha supervised the ceremonies,
which are described in Soma-Saubhagya Kavya. The construction
continued until 1458 CE. However, according to the audio guide provided to
visitors to the site, construction lasted fifty years (and involved 2785
workers). Another source reports that construction continued until
1496, fifty years from 1446. The town of Ranakpur and the temple are named
after the provincial ruler monarch, Rana Kumbha who supported the construction
of the temple.
Whilst Dilwara temples are known for
their sculptural work, this temple is famous for its intricate carvings and
unique architecture. It was built in the form of Nalini-Gulma
Vimana(a heavenly vehicle Dharna Shah saw in his dreams). This temple
is built in Māru-Gurjara architecture.
The temple has a garbhagriha in
which the main Chaumukha Adinatha idol is placed. The four openings of the
sanctum lead to rangamandapa— the Dancing hall, which is connected to a
two-storeyed mandapa, which is again connected to another two-storeyed mandapa
called Balana and nalimandapa. This courtyard is surrounded by a
wall enclosing sub-shrines. The wall is also exclusive on projections
like devakulikas and minor deity. The temple has
five shikharas amongst which the central one is the largest. The
temple is rich with sculptural pieces - carvings created with great skill and
artistry.
The Shikhara in the temple is
symbolic of Mount Meru, the mountain which forms the axis
of Jambudvipa with a preaching hall as the Samavasarana.
Chaturmukha temple
is a 15th-century temple dedicated
to Adinatha built using white marble in the midst of a
forest. The temple name is credited to its design of chaumukha— with four
faces. The construction of the temple and quadrupled image
symbolise the Tirthankara's conquest of the four cardinal directions and hence
the cosmos. The temple is one of the largest Jain
temples and considered one of the five holiest Jain
shrines in India and part of Gorwad Panch Tirth. The
architecture and stone carvings of the temple are based on the
Ancient Mirpur Jain Temple at Mirpur in Rajasthan.
The temple is a grand white marble structure
spread over 48,000 square feet (4,500 m2) with 1444 marble pillars,
twenty-nine halls, eighty domes and 426 columns. One pillar is
incomplete and legend says every time it is built the next morning the pillar
breaks down again. The temple, with its distinctive
domes, shikhara, turrets and cupolas rises
majestically from the slope of a hill. The 1444 marble pillars, carved in
exquisite detail, support the temple. The pillars are individually carved and
no two pillars are the same. Legend says that it is impossible to
count the pillars. One of the pillars bears the carving mother of a
tirthankar lying on a cot. In the axis of the main entrance, on the
western side, is the largest image. Inside the garbhagriha, the
moolnayak of this temple, there is a 6-ft. tall, white-coloured chaumukha idol
of Adinath with four heads facing in four directions. Temple has a
total of 84 bhonyra (underground chambers) built to protect
the Jain idols from the Mughals.
The temple is famous for its beautiful carved
idol of Parshvanatha made out of a single marble slab. The idol has
1008 snake heads and numerous tails. Two chauri bearers
and Yaksha and yakshi, half-human and half-snake, stand on
either side. There are two elephants purifying Parshvanatha. One
cannot find the end of the tails. The temple also has a representation
of Ashtapad, showing eight tirthanakars in a row, Girnar and
Nandishwar Dvipa. The design of the temple
inspired Pittalhar temple, Dilwara in 1459 CE and in
the Palitana temple complex in 1681.
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