Location- Gujarat. Nearest station Ahemdabad 277
kms by rail and 215 kms by road. Nearest airport
Bhavnagar 62 kms.
The path
winds through 3950 steps for a trying 3.5 km up
the scrub-covered Shetrunjaya Hills. Much of the
track is unshaded and the higher you climb the more
the heat haze skimmers across the plains for below.
And then, after two hours and a quarter, Palitana
spreads white and crenellated above you. Camelot
must have been like this, rising above the plains,
wrapped in its own mystique. Some of the 863 temples
of Palitana were built in the 11th century. Construction
activity, however, spanned 900 years. As successive
worshippers of the non-violent and trading Jain
community designed their own temples, they cleared
the crest of the hill, levelled it into terraces,
walled and fortified most of them.
Visitors naturally wonder how such a mammoth task
of covering the entire summit with temples has been
achieved. The answer is simple. Generations after
generation of Jain devotees have spent money on
some construction or the other on the Shatrunjaya.
This is aptly described in Ras Mala thus: There
is hardly a city in India, through its length and
breadth, that has not supplied at one time or other,
contributions of wealth to the edifices which crown
the hill of Palitana.
Because of its sanctity, every devout
Jain aspires to climb to the top of the mountain
at least once in his lifetime. The journey is arduous.
The walk up the stone stairway hewn into the mountain
face takes about an hour and a half. For those unable
or unaccustomed to the strain, sling-chairs are
available at a bargain. The code for the climbers
is stringent, in keeping with the rigours of the
Jain faith. Food must neither be eaten nor carried
on the way.
The descent must begin before it is evening, for
no soul can remain atop the sacred mountain during
the night and Gods are to be left alone. Such is
the mystique of Palitana, the summit of Shatrunjaya.
The temple covered Shetrunjaya hill, 2000 ft over
Palitana town, believed to span 863 shrines in all
has some really exquisite marble temples of great
religious and artistic importance, containing arches,
carved pillars and bejeweled idols. The temples
date from 11th to the 20th century. The summit is
the most revered of Jain temple complexes, surpassing
those of Mt Abu, Gwalior, Girnar and Bihar. Palitana
town is a good place to shop for textile related
handicrafts and has a Jain kala sansta. 108 SAMVASARAN MANDIR
: The temple in the town of Palitana has 108 idols
and sculptures. JAIN MUSEUMS
: Palitana has 2 trust run Jain museums. The Shri
Vishal Jain Kala Sansthan and the Stapitya kala
graha, with cloth paintings, manuscripts, palm leaf
books, book covers, ivory sculpture and paintings
on ivory and figurines.
