Shri Digamber Jain Atishya Kshetra Mandir, Sanghiji is an ancient

Jain Temple A Jain temple, Derasar (Gujarati: દેરાસર) or Basadi (Kannada: ಬಸದಿ) is the place of worship for Jains, the followers of Jainism. Jain architecture is essentially restricted to temples and monasteries, and Jain buildings ge ...

Sanganer Sanganer is a town/ tehsil (an administrative division) situated in Jaipur district, Rajasthan, 16 km south of state capital Jaipur. Jaipur has been divided in 13 Sub divisions and Sanganer is one of these 13 Sub divisions. It is famous f ...

, Rajasthan made of red stone. The ancient Shri Digamber Jain temple of Sanganer is 16 km from

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

History

This temple is a major Jain pilgrimage center. The idol of the principal deity of this temple, Lord

Rishabhanatha Rishabhanatha (Devanagari: ऋषभनाथ), also Rishabhadeva (Devanagari: ऋषभदेव, ), Rishabha (Devanagari: ऋषभ, ) or Ikshvaku (Devanagari: इक्ष्वाकु, ''Ikṣvāku''), is the first (Supreme preacher) ...

(Adinatha), the first

Tirthankara In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (; ) is a saviour and supreme preacher of the ''Dharma (Jainism), dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a ''Tirtha (Jainism), tirtha'', a fordable passage across ''Saṃsā ...

, is supposed to be 4000 years old. The last phase of this temple was completed in the 10th century A.D., according to the inscription of V.S. 1011 in one of the Toranas.

About temple

In the underground portion, there is located an ancient small temple guarded by the ''

yaksha The Yakshas (, , ) in Mythology are a broad class of nature spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Bud ...

'', nature spirits. The sacred temple has seven underground floors which are kept closed due to old religious beliefs and visitors are not allowed to see them. It is said that only a Balyati ascetic Digambara saint can enter it and can bring out the idols of this underground temple for a limited period, which is declared and decided previously. The temple also has a '' dharamshala'' equipped with all modern facilities, including bhojanalaya (a restaurant).

Architecture

The Jaina temple follows

Nagara architecture Nagara Style or Nagara architectural style is a Hindu style of temple architecture, which is popular in Northern, Western and Eastern India (except the Bengal region), especially in the regions around Malwa, Rajputana and Kalinga. Temples classi ...

. The temple features a highly decorated arched entrance. The temple has a double storey gateway with first storey sumounted by an Nagara style arched

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 temple features a sky-high ''shikharas'' and the inner sanctum is a stone shrine with eight sky-high ''shikharas'' (pinnacles). Sanghiji temple is considered a great specimen of Hindu and Jain architecture. The larger shrine was built using marble and sandstone in the 10th century and the smaller shrine is rich with ornate carvings of the temple; using the white marble is comparable to that of

Dilwara Temples The Dilwara Temples or Delvada Temples are a group of Śvētāmbara Jain temples located about kilometres from the Mount Abu settlement in Sirohi District, Rajasthan's only hill station. The earliest were built by Vimal Shah , a Jain mini ...

Mount Abu Mount Abu (), known as Arbudgiri in Jain tradition, is a hill station in the Aravalli Range in the Sirohi district of the state of Rajasthan in western India. Here, the mountain forms a rocky plateau 22 km long by 9 km wide. It is ref ...

. The decorative features such as flying arches, bracket figures, carved pillars, and lotus ceilings are a feature of Māru-Gurjara architecture.

Idols

The inner temple has three pinnacles; in the centre is an idol of Parshwanath with seven serpent hoods. All around it is carvings of lotuses, creepers and elephants pouring water from pitchers held in their trunks. The main idol is that of Adinath, installed in the shrine behind this. In 1999, Muni Sudhasagar visited the temple and brought thirty-nine valuable Jain idols. The idols were brought from the fourth underground floor and many ''yakshas'' (in the form of snakes) were encountered, protecting the treasure.

Gallery

File:Sanghiji - Vedi.jpg, Front Vedi File:Sanghiji - top.jpg, Shikhar File:Sanghiji Jain temple - Rishabhanatha idol.jpg, Rishabhanatha idol File:Sanghiji - carvings on wall (1).jpg, Murals on the wall

References

Jain Mandir Sanganer Jaipur
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Citations

Sources

Books

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Web

* * * * * Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts ** ** ** {{Jainism topics Jain temples in Rajasthan Buildings and structures in Jaipur 10th-century Jain temples Tourist attractions in Jaipur