8 Amazing Facts about Ranakpur Jain Temple, near Kumbalgarh
Ranakpur Jain Temple near Kumbalgarh Rajasthan is stunningly exquisite. It is an aesthetic and visual treat. I have returned feasting my eyes on it yet I wonder – was it all true or just a figment of imagination!
We visited this beautiful temple while on our way to Kumbalgarh Fort from Jodhpur and I am glad we halted this beautiful Jain Mandir. The temple complex is spread over an area of approx. 48,000sqft.
Ranakpur Jain temple is made of amber stone and is situated at the base of Madri hill, in the enchanting valley of the Aravallis. We had no idea about the grandeur of the temple and its carvings. And the silly us added this Jain Temple in the itinerary to the road trip from Jodhpur to Kumbalgarh allotting it just half an hour. We could hardly stick to this plan of ours. Even after 2 hours of touring it left us unsatisfied.
Tour Guides in Ranakpur Jain Temple
Try and hire a guide here, they have a mine of knowledge on the history of the temple. I am glad I took one. The way he narrated the history and the amazing facts about Ranakpur Jain Temple made the visit very meaningful.
Purohits (priests) of this temple are helpful. If you ask them the significance or ask something particular you wish to know they are ever helpful.
History of Ranakpur Jain Temple
The legend associated to the building of this temple is that –
Dharana Shah a local wealthy businessman got a celestial vision of Adinath, the founder of Jain religion. He approached the then Rajput king Rana Kumbha for permission and support to build a temple to honor the great Saint Adinath.
The chief sculptor of this temple was Depa. Initial plan was to build seven storied high temple. But even after 50 years only three floors were made, that too was incomplete. After installation of the idol of Adinath, the construction went on for 15 more years.
It was an active temple in 14th and 15th centuries. Sadly in 17th century the temple came under the attack of Mughals. The priests of the temple with some forethought hid the main statues in the cellar of the temple. So, thankfully they were spared.
However after this the plunder the priests never returned and the temple was forgotten and abandoned. And as always happens, this beautiful temple became the haunt of robbers and dacoits.
It was only in early 20th century locals got more responsible and revived the temple to its past glory.
Facts about Ranakpur Jain Temple
Following are the 8 amazing facts about Ranakpur Jain Temple explaining the mystery, architectural details and stunning sculptures.
1. Ranakpur Temple – a Vimana
The temple was designed on the pattern of Vimana, meaning a flying chariot. In those days people believed temples to be flying chariots of resident deities. Take a look at the frontal view of the temple. To me it resembles an aircraft. Do you see the same?
Dharana Shah had called for several plans for making his dream temple. Finally he selected this plan presented by a young architect called Depa.
This magnificent temple is the result of combined efforts of the builder Dharana Shah, the then king of Udaipur Rana Kumbha, his minister and the architect Depa.
2. 1444 Pillars in Ranakpur Temple
There are 1444 pillars in this temple. The entire weight of the colossal structure rests on 1,444 pillars. Each intricately carved and at the same time no two pillars are identical in design.
In spite of so many pillars the sighting of main idol is not restricted. Not only that the interior ventilation is superb. There is no restriction to flow of wind.
The guide did draw our attention to this fact by asking are you feeling hot. “See the architectural design of those days didi (elder sister), the pillars are arranged in such a manner that they don’t restrict the inflow and outflow of air.”
Amazing indeed! Since it was made of marble or amber the floor and walls were cool. Same can be said about the design in the ceilings. There are 80 domes in this magnificent Jain temple each having unique designs in ceilings.
3. Changing Hues in Interiors of Ranakpur Temple
Another interesting observation and mystery of this Jain Mandir is that color of the pillars changes through the day. It can be golden to pale blue color depending on when light falls on them. I could observe a golden hue on the elephant centrally placed in a hall.
The temple isn’t made of striking white marble but of amber which is slightly yellowish. Probably some minerals in it reflect off light at different angles to give a shade of color.
4. Faith of Locals
While I was touring the Ranakpur temple I saw few devotees crawling under the belly of one of the elephants there. Initially I saw a child doing it and brushed it off thinking the kid must be playing. But later I was shocked to see an adult man too crawling under the belly of the elephant.
The guide explained, the locals believe if they crawl under the belly of the elephant their desires would be fulfilled!
5. Listed in Top 5 Jain Temples of India
Ranakpur Jain Mandir ranks in the list of top 5 holy shrines of Jains. Almost every Jain follower dreams of visiting this temple at least once in their lifetime.
Dilwara Temple in Mount Abu has another beautiful Jain Temple. Having seen both, my opinion is that both temples are unique in their own way in terms of grandeur and exquisiteness.
Dilwara Temple is 161km west of Ranakpur Temple, travel time can be 3hrs 10mins.
6. Idols of Lord Adinath
There are 4 entrances to the main chamber of the temple. Inside there are 4 huge, 6ft. tall, sparkling white marble idols of Saint Adinath. All are facing 4 different directions.
In the 2nd and 3rd floors too there are shrines housing 4 identical Jain Gods. The temple therefore is also called Chaturmukh Jain Temple.
Other popular names are: Dharan Vihar (named after the builder), Trailokya Deepak Prasad (light spreading radiance in all the three Lokas (spheres)) and Tribhuvan Vihar.
Shrine in third floor of Ranakpur Temple.
Facade details of shrine in third floor
7. Most Stunning Sculptures at Ranakpur Jain Temple
If you are ever there you must search out these architectural marvels in the temple. There are more than these.
See this toran – the decorative arch carved out from a single stone. We were told that there were 128 such torans in the temple when it was first made. Sadly due to destruction by Mughals only three exist today. Imagine how much more beautiful the temple would have looked with those 128 torans. Dilwara temple too has many such similar toran.
The entrances to shrines of Ranakpur Jain temple are so beautifully carved, you may not want to step on it. Those two evil faces mean that you must leave your greed and evil thoughts outside and enter the temple with pure thoughts.
The most beautiful sculpted creation I saw there was the idol of Bhagwan Parshavnath standing in a Kayotsarg meditation along with the 1000 hooded snake, Dharmendra and Padmavati.
This picture of mine was exhibited in Budapest, Hungary.
8. Revival of Ranakpur Temple
The original beauty and splendor lasted only for 200 years. It was plundered and desecrated by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. The magnificent masterpiece of a temple soon declined in to oblivion.
Credit of this temple’s revival and resurrection goes to Shri Kasturbhai Lalbhai, the chief of Sheth Anandji Kalyanji Trust. Over 200 workers and artisans dedicated themselves to the reconstruction of the Great Temple.
If you notice carefully the color variation in the sculpted stones clearly distinguishes the old and the new work.
Ranakpur Jain Temple ceiling – different shades of stones used
Ranakpur Jain Mandir: Food and Stay
The management of this Jain Mandir has done well by providing good food and stay options for pilgrims and tourists. Food is purely vegetarian, no onions and garlic either, at a much subsidized rate. Good washroom facilities too.
These facilities make Ranakpur Jain Temple an ideal day trip destination from Udaipur, Kumbalgarh or Jodhpur.
Location of Ranakpur Jain Mandir
Ranakpur Jain Temple can be easily added to road trips between Jodhpur and Udaipur.
Distance Jodhpur to Ranakpur – 154kms. Time – 2hrs 50mins
Udaipur to Ranakpur – 94kms, Time – 1hr 50mins
Kumbalgarh Fort to Ranakpur – 50kms, Time – 1hr 50mins
Road Trip Jodhpur to Ranakpur Google Map
Ranakpur Jain Temple Timings
All days of the week 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM. Followers of Jain philosophy can enter till 8PM.
One of the lines of a legendary folk song is:
… Ranakpur temple deserves praise for its
exquisite workmanship and magnificent architecture,
.. so eat a little less,
but do visit Ranakpur to enjoy its beauty.
Wow – gorgeous shots!
WOW Indrani. All capital letters, LOL. The detail that went into creating this place staggers the mind. Fabulous post.
Beautiful pictures and nice narrative
We visited the Ranakpur Temple in December of 1999 and although these pictures are superb but the visit in person wll be an unforgettable experience of lifetime…………..encourage all to visit Ranakpur Temple though it is not conveniently located
With such intricate carving done I’m surprised that they could still reach 3 storeys in 50 years.
Someone had the devotion and taste to committedly do this.
amazing art and architecture and such intricate carvings!!!!
nice post on such a gem of our culture and heritage!!
i was in dilwara temples two summers ago and while i was mesmerized by the architecture i overheard a few people saying that it is not even a tenth of what ranakpur has to offer. now i know why 🙂
One of the places in my must-see list.
Stunning pictures of a beautiful place! Thank you for sharing.
Wow! u have captured the beauty so well.. I cannot imagine the hard work and passion that must have gone into building this… and I also cannot understand how any one can destroy such works of art.
Wow, excellent images filled with detail!
Excellent pictures. I liked the first one most.
Two things strike me when I see this post: the dedication and the money that went into this project! If they had managed seven stories, it must have become one of the great wonders of the world!
Thanks for sharing!
Esther
Indrani, I owe you deep thanks for opening up this wonderful world with your pictures and descriptions. I may never see the temple, but this vicarious pleasure satisfies me.
OMG ! this temple looks so stunning….amazing architecture…
Splendid! Fantastic! Magnificient architecture! I visited Northern India in February 2008 and adored your beautiful country! I am planning another trip to India for 2009 or 2010 and this time I will visit this amazing temple too! Friendly greetings from Istanbul! 🙂
that is one beautiful temple – have to visit the place some day…sigh, so many things to do – so little time..
A most beautiful temple, I am glad you shared your interesting photos with us. Very impressive.
I am so amazed just enlarging the pictures. I can’t even begin to imagine being there and taking in the rich beauty of the carvings. Truly beautiful can’t begin to describe the workmanship!
Wow! So many pieces of art work. They have put in so much $ and effort to design them.
Seems so suitable that Jains would have made something where nature is reflected to the point where it seems not even the smallest creature is left out and all are parts of the whole.
absolutely fabulous carvings..
The intricacy of this is so amazing. Terrific post.
Oh my gosh that is so beautiful, the architect is absolutely gorgeous.
What lovely photos of a beautiful building. The small details on this building are stunnning!
~Angie
http://www.theathurclanphotos.blogspot.com
This really is a breathe taking part od the world. It does make you sigh that we cannot produce such stunning work now.
This really is a breathe taking part od the world. It does make you sigh that we cannot produce such stunning work now.
The temple is so beautiful and I love the exquisite carving you showed us in detail. Great post.
Indrani I cant thank you enough for this wonderful journey through Rajasthan .
I am thoroughly enjoying it .
lovely captures
Very beautiful indeed. How much Interest, dedication & hardwork might have gone in to all these beautiful structures. Will add this to my togo list. Have a wonderful Year ahead, Indrani.
That was almost too much for me. It´s totally astonishing.
I am a jain by birth, not quite by actions though, however we did visit this place in 2007 diwali and the temples are wonderful… what surprised us was there were more foreigners in the derasar then Indians or jains !!!!!!
The art work is incredible !!
That’s incredible. I just can’t imagine the kind of work that went into creating such an art-filled structure. It’s stunning. Good job on presenting it.
your pics are as breathtakingly beautiful as the carvings
Your pictures are always a treat! and the bits of information are the icing.
Wish you many more – vacations!
stunning pics..a tribute to the Indian artisan 🙂
I’ve always found the stonework of the temples fascinating — and breathtaking. And this one seems remarkably well preserved too! hard to believe that it was only a crew of 200 that built this place.
Beautiful photos. I hope to get there someday and see your country firsthand.
A beautiful building and a wealth of intricate detail. Awesome post for MYT.
Wow so magnificient and amazing. I will be so excited if I was there. Would take many photos of the great building. Very beautiful cravings and designs on them. Fantastic. Happy Tuesday.
Wow that is truly amazing, thanks for sharing.
Cheers and Happy New Year!
Regina In Pictures
OMG!!! what a breathtaking photos!It’s so BEAUTIFUL!!!!
palatial brilliance! wow! what a treasure trove!
these photos are precisely why india is high on list. soooo beautiful. such awesome sights. and filled with history too.
What an amazing piece of architecture. The carvings must have taken years to complete..
Thanks for sharing.
What amazing intricate sculptures! I am speechless 😀
I’m really speechless before such incredible beauty! And when I think of the unfinished buildings I’m used to seeing here, gaunt skeletons of steel or peeling tar paper boards, this in a complete delight.
Oh simply, WOW. That temple is fascinating. Wishing you a very happy and healthy new year!
My word what amazing photographs (I did indeed click to enlarge!) Such beautifully stunning architecture, it surely must have been breathtaking at seen first hand.
(Excuse me for just popping in! I was clicking ‘next blog’ and, luckily,stumbled across these pictures!)
Blessings
Melanie
🙂