Mulnayak: Nearly 180 cms. High, white -colored idol of Bhagawan Adishwar in the Padmasana posture.
How to reach: It is in the Midst of natural beauty on the Arvalli hills. The nearest railway station of Falna is at a distance of 35 Kilometers and the nearest at town of Sadadi is at a distance of 8 kilometers. Bus service and private vehicles are available. There is a huge Dharmashala near the temple. There is also a bhojanashala. There are also guesthouses run by Government of Rajasthan equipped with modern facilities.

Art and Architecture: Bhagwan Adinath temple    Bhagwan Parsvanath

Historicity: The grandest of the Jaina temples built after 1300 is the Adinath Vihara at Ranakpur. It covers an area of 3720 square metres and 420 pillars, none of which are alike, support its twenty-nine halls. Construction of the Building began in 1389, and took fifty years to complete.

It was the fortunate constellation of four outstanding personalities to which we owe this marvel of a temple. First there was the Shvetambara Acharya Somasundara Suri, a great religious leader of his time. Close to him stood a young, layman by the name Dharana Shah who was much devoted to the Acharya and on his way of becoming minister to Rana Kumbha, being the third in the said constellation. Rana Kumbha, though not a Jaina by religion, looked favourably on Dharana Shah's plan for erecting a temple equal to the one he was shown in a dream. Eventually he, King Kumbha, was to give him the land needed to build the temple. Fourthly there was Depaka (or Depa), an unconventional architect whose imagination matched the visionary dream of Dharana Shah. The latter, by the way, took the vow of lifelong celibacy at the age of thirty-two, but being a minister to the king and committed to financing his ambitious project, he never became a monk.

The Ranakpur Vihara is more than an architectural feat. But it needs one's presence at an evening puja to get a glimpse of the religious aura that arises in this majestic shrine whenever - that is about every evening - pilgrims gather in the pillared hall before the sanctum in order to pay homage to the seated Jina by offering adoration, singing hymns and by finally waving lighted ghee wicks in front of the statue which for them represents the perfect teacher and paramatma ('supreme soul'). It is during this final act of worship that the inlaid eyes of the Tirthankara image - they being a Svetambar peculiarity and regarded by many Westerners as an oddity - emit rays of light that bestow an appearance of life upon the face of the idol.

Strange to say, this grandiose temple, though it remained largely spared by fanatic iconoclasts thanks to an order by the great Mughal emperor Akbar at the request of a Jaina monk, was left to decay in later centuries. There came a time when pilgrims no longer dared to visit the temple for fear of wild animals and dacoits. At long last, after the administration of the temple was handed over to the Anandji Kalyanji Trust, a thorough restoration, taking eleven years to complete, began in 1933.

The high priest of the temple is not a Jaina but a Vaishnav Hindu. The 'priestly' position is passed on from father to son, and this since fourteen generations within the same family.

Seven metals are used - gold, silver, bell - metal, brass, lead, copper, zinc etc. The foundation is 35 feet deep under the ground and the temple is at a height of 102 feet from the ground. The land under the temple is of 48 thousand square feet. There are 1444 pillars. The whole temple is on pillars. The workmanship of each pillar is different. This temple has 84 idols. They suggest that 84 rotations of the wheel of this world can be got rid of here. A flag is raised on the fifth day of the bright half of the month of Fagan. Besides this, there are temples of Bhagawan Parshvanath and Bhagawan Neminath. The sun temple and the temple of Chakreshvaridevi are also there. From artistic and cultural viewpoints.

From artistic and cultural viewpoints, the whole temple is beautiful, splendid, matchless and outstanding among many wonders of the world. There are 24 pavilions in the - 4 big Meghamandaps and 20 small Rangamandaps. Every pavilion has a different artistry. 76 small temples and 8 groups of five tirths remind us of Nadol and Varkana in the east and Nadlai and Muchchhala Mahavir in the south. In the temple, there are many things worth seeing. From the top of the steps of the chief gate (the western gate), one sees very splendid carvings of leaves of the wish - fulfilling tree. Like the wish - fulfilling tree, the carvings on the leaves fulfill the wishes of the pilgrims. On entering the temple, one sees to the right the idol of Diwanji, the mason, a native of Mandara. He was a yogi and lived in Sadhu’s dress. By the grace of his goddess, he made a plan of this temple. His descendents live there even today. They do the repairing work of the temple. To the left inside the temple, there is an idol of Dharana Shah. The temple was built at the cost of 15 crores of rupees in those days. His idol is made in a pillar so as to avoid the propaganda of his name and always he able to see God well. The Rayan tree, which was planted by Dharna Shah 500 years ago, is present even today. The idols of the feet of Bhagawan Risabhdev are there to remind us that Bhagawan Risabhdev attained omniscience under a Rayan tree. In the center to the right of the temple, Samavasaran of Bhagawan Mahavir is very artistically constructed with marble stone. When Bhagawan is giving sermons, the audience is sitting on three sides. King kumbhaji wished to make Kirtistambh for his fame. But as divine power would have it, it was not completed and remained incomplete. It is called adhuro thambhalo (incomplete pillar). The idol of Bhagawan Mahavir Swami and Risabhdev are face to face in the ambient passage. The idols are polished with real gems. They shine like glass. Air, water and seasons have no effect on these idols. They shine more brightly in the dark. These idols are 61 inches high. Powder is made of not one or two tolas of gems but many kilograms of gems many chemicals are mixed with the powder. Even after 600 years, the idols shine more and more brightly in darkness. The idols in the ceilings of the gates to the east and to the west have one head and five bodies. The incident of the harassment caused by Kamath to the thousand-hooded Parshvanath is very artistically carved. The tails of male snakes and female snakes are shown entangled. Sixteen female snakes help the male snakes to protect Bhagawan. The tails of male snakes and female snakes are very artistically interwoven and it seems that there is net - work of tails. It is a special feature of this workmanship that the whole carving is done on a single stone. The model of Shetrunjay was well designed to give an artistic description when the means and resources were not scientifically developed. The workmanship of the model is beautiful and praiseworthy. The idol of Bhagawan Parshvanath is made out of touchstone. The dolls in the domes are very splendid. The summit of the temple has the built - up area 136 feet. The summit is of plaster and not of marble. It is, therefore, not weighty. It is praiseworthy that the incident of harassment to Bhagawan Parshvanath is very vividly depicted. The temple is so artistically built that one can see God face to face from any corner. Though there are as many as 1444 pillars, not a single pillar comes in the way and the ventilation is equally good everywhere. The temple is so minutely sculptured that in the cold season, one does not feel cold in the temple and in the hot season, one feels cold in the temple. In the construction of the temples, walls are not used at all. In short, even in the modern scientific age, no architect can build such a temple and no engineer can make such a plan. Every pillar displays different artistry and carving design. Every picture has a different significance. Under the influence of the fifth era, the carving and significance are shown by mere stones but in the golden age, every doll would no doubt look dancing. The two pairs of bells are made of metal and they weigh 13 mounds. In each pair, one is a male and the other is a female. One produces a low sound and the other produces a heavy sound. The sound reaches as far as three miles. The sound of Om is produced in a lotus in the form of a navel and passes into the aperture at the crown of head. It lasts for one minute. The chandelier of the ceiling of the open square of the temple is pulled low at the center. This cannot be imagined. How the weight of stones is kept hanging unsupported is a puzzle.
Trust: Seth Shri Anandji Kalyanji Pedhi, Ranakpur, Dist : Pali, State : Rajasthan, India.