Ranakpur

Ranakpur is a village near Sadri town in the Pali district of Rajasthan in western India. It is located between Jodhpur and Udaipur, in a valley on the western side of the Aravalli Range. Ranakpur is easily accessed by road from Udaipur.

Ranakpur is widely known for its marble Jain temple, and for a much older Sun Temple which lies opposite the former.

Jain temple

The renowned Jain temple at Ranakpur is dedicated to Adinatha.Kumar, Sehdev (2001). "A Thousand Petalled Lotus: Jain Temples of Rajasthan", p. 96. Abhinav. ISBN 8170173485.] Light colored "marble" has been used for the construction of this grand temple which occupies an area of approximately 60 x 62 meters. The temple, with its distinctive domes, "shikhara", turrets and cupolas rises majestically from the slope of a hill. Over 1444 marble pillars, carved in exquisite detail, support the temple. The pillars are all differently carved and no two pillars are the same. It is also said that it is impossible to count the pillars. Also all the statues face one or the other statue. There is one beautiful carving made out of a single marble rock where there 108 heads of snakes and numerous tails. One cannot find the end of the tails. The image faces all four cardinal directions. In the axis of the main entrance, on the western side, is the largest image.

The temple is designed as "caumukha"—with four faces. The construction of the temple and quadrupled image symbolize the Tirthankara's conquest of the four cardinal directions and hence the cosmos.

The dating of this temple is controversial but it is largely considered to be anywhere between the late 14th to mid-15th centuries. Inspired by a dream of a celestial vehicle, Dharna Shah, a Porwad, is said to have commissioned it, under the patronage of Rana Kumbha, then ruler of Mewad. The architect who oversaw the project is said to have been named Deepaka. 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.

This temple was nominated as one of the top 77 wonders in a contest for the new seven wonders of the world.

Picture gallery

Notes

References

*L. Clermont & T. Dix authored/photographed book, "Jainism and the temples of Mount Abu and Ranakpur".

External links

*http://youtube.com/watch?v=j-NTAgOjcXc
*http://youtube.com/watch?v=D7SghRxZuHo
*http://youtube.com/watch?v=KcZ8T4xRkMQ
*http://youtube.com/watch?v=bEvy5VttVNk