Hutheesing Temple is a Jain temple in

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

, India. It was constructed in 1848 by the Hutheesing family. The temple blends the old Maru-Gurjara temple architecture style with new architectural elements of ''

haveli A ''haveli'' is a traditional townhouse, mansion, or manor house, in the Indian subcontinent, usually one with historical and architectural significance, and located in a town or city. The word ''haveli'' is derived from Arabic ''hawali'', me ...

'' in its design.

History

The construction of the temple was originally planned and initiated by Hutheesing Kesarisinh, a wealthy trader of Ahmedabad. Following his death at the age of 49, the construction was supervised and completed by his wife, Harkunwar. The total cost was approximately . The chief temple architect was Premchand Salat. The temple is located outside the Delhi Darwaza.

Lockwood de Forest Lockwood de Forest (June 8, 1850 – April 3, 1932) was an American painter, interior designer and furniture designer. A key figure in the Aesthetic Movement, he introduced the East Indian craft revival to Gilded Age America. As a young man, de F ...

, who was a business associate of Muganbhai Hutheesing, the son of Sheth Hutheesing, estimated the cost as "over a million dollars". The temple was built during a severe famine in Gujarat. Building the temple employed hundreds of skilled artisans which supported them for a period of two years. The temple is managed by a Hutheesing family trust.

Architecture

Salat has blended the old temple architecture style with new architectural elements of ''

'' in designing the temple. It uses the

Māru-Gurjara style Māru-Gurjara architecture or Solaṅkī style, is the style of West Indian temple architecture that originated in Gujarat and Rajasthan from the 11th to 13th centuries, under the Chaulukya dynasty (also called Solaṅkī dynasty). Although or ...

, with many similarities to Bhadreshwar and

Ranakpur Ranakpur is a village located in Desuri tehsil near Pali city in the Pali district of Rajasthan in western India. The nearest Municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate s ...

.Michell (1990), 278 (quoted); Hegewald The temple is built from white marble. The main gateway porch features architectural elements of wooden ''haveli'' including decorated walls, carved

balustrades A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its c ...

, overarching balconies, chabutras and

jali A ''jali'' or ''jaali'' (''jālī'', meaning "net") is the term for a perforated stone or latticed screen, usually with an ornamental pattern constructed through the use of calligraphy, geometry or natural patterns. This form of architectu ...

s. It is a ''nirandhara-prasada'' type of the temple which do not feature an ambulatory passage. The west-facing temple is built on a large platform. The principal temple has three sanctuaries in a row: a ''garbhagriha'' (sanctum), a ''gudhamandapa'' (closed shrine hall with porches), a vestibule and a ''sabhamandapa'' (assembly hall), each having its own

shikhara ''Shikhara'' (IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chamber ...

. The principal temple is 52.5 metre high and double-stories. The ''garbhagriha'' on the east end has three ornate spires. The large ridged dome of the ''gudhamandapa'' is supported by twelve ornate pillars. The large protruding porches have ornate columns and brackets with figures on three outer sides. The temple is dedicated to Dharmanatha, the fifteenth Jain Tirthankara, whose marble image is housed in the central sanctum. The principal temple houses eleven deities, six in basement and five in three bay sanctuary. The porch and the outer mandapa each have three domes. There is a good deal of "sharply sculpted" decoration, "but figures appear only at the brackets". The principal temple is surrounded by an open courtyard with a colonnaded

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

with 52 ''devakulika''s (secondary shrines), each containing an image of a deity. The temple is also known for

rainwater harvesting Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a Rainwater tank, tank, cistern, deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), Aquifer s ...

structure. File:Hutheesing Jain Derasar Entrance Gate.jpg, Front façade of the gateway porch File:Hathi Singh Jain Temple 82.jpg, Decoration of the gateway porch File:Gezicht op een doorgang in de Hathi Singh tempel in Ahmedabad Huthi Singh's Tomb. Ahmedabad 2236 (titel op object), RP-F-F02448.jpg, Ornamentation of the doorframe File:Hatheesing jain temple.JPG, Three sanctuaries of the temple File:Hutheesing jain temple.jpg, Decoration of the ''Gudhamandapa'' File:Hatheesing Temple(1).JPG, Ceiling File:Hatheesing jain temple.JPG, ''Sabhamandapa'' File:Hutheesing Jain Derasar Wall Carving Exterior.jpg, Carved exterior wall File:Hatheesing jain temple.3.JPG, Colonnaded cloister

Manastambha

There is a 78 feet high

Manastambha In Jainism, a ''manastambha'' () is a pillar that is often constructed in front of Jain temples or large Jain statues. In North India, they are topped by four Tirthankara images. According to the ''Digambara'' Jain texts like '' Adi Purana'' ...

(or a column of honour) in its outer courtyard. It is inspired by the Kirti Stambha at Chittore in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. It is six stories in height and enshrines an idol of

Mahavira Mahavira (Devanagari: महावीर, ), also known as Vardhamana (Devanagari: वर्धमान, ), was the 24th ''Tirthankara'' (Supreme Preacher and Ford Maker) of Jainism. Although the dates and most historical details of his lif ...

. It was built to commemorate the 2500th birth anniversary of Mahavira. Some of the motifs of the column are compared to the

Sultanate Sultan (; ', ) is a Royal and noble ranks, position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". La ...

minarets of the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

era.

References

Citations

Sources