Top 10 Jain Temples in India

Jainism thrives in India from a very ancient time. Many rulers and leaders, who believed Jainism, built numerous sacred sites and temples around the country for promoting the religious teachings.

Although the religion thrives in central and western part of India, you can find sites, all around the country.

Here are the top 10 Jain Temples in India.

1. Ranakpur Jain Temple

Located amidst the hills of Aravalli in Rajasthan, this temple is a 15^th century masterpiece. The temple is dedicated to Jain leader Tirthankara Rishabhanatha. This temple holds three levels and each floor is filled with sculptures, paintings and others architectural designs. The temple has 1444 pillars and the interesting fact is that, no two pillars have the same design. Every sculpture has very detailed structure.

How To Reach?

The nearest airport is located in Udaipur and the nearest railway station is located in Pali. You can find cabs, buses and other road transportation to reach Ranakpur Jain temple from surrounding regions.

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2. Gomateshwara Temple

This temple holds the largest monolithic statue of the world. Located in Shravanabelagola of Karnataka, this temple holds the largest black stone statue of Bahubali, the first Jain leader. This statue was built in 10^th century. This temple is famous for its unique festival, Mahamastakabhisheka, which takes place once in twelve years. During this festival, this gigantic statue is bathed with milk, turmeric, vermilion, sandalwood paste and so on. It usually takes place in February. Apart from this, the temple is famous for its spiritual element and architectural beauty.

How To Reach?

The nearest airport is in Bangalore and nearest railway station is in Hassan. You can find frequent buses from all major cities to Shravanabelagola. Once inside the city, you can easily find your way to the temple.

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3. Dilwara Temples

One of the top tourist destinations of Mount Abu of Rajasthan is Dilwara group of temples. It is a holy site which has historic value too. The temple is famous for its artistic carvings of marbles. This group holds five different temples built in 11^th century for Lord Mahavir Swamy, Lord Adinath, Lord Parshvanath, Lord Neminath and Lord Rishabh deo. This sacred site is famous for marvelous entrance way, roof carvings, arches, doorways and other structures made with marbles. This temple is famous for its serene environment, which helps those who want to meditate and attain peace.

How To Reach?

The nearest airport is located in Udaipur and nearest railway station is located in Abu Road. Once inside Mount Abu, you can find many transportation options to reach the temple.

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4. Sri Digambar Jain Lal Mandir

This is the oldest Jain temple of Delhi. This temple is located in Chandni Chowk of Old Delhi. Built in 17^th century, it is today, both a temple and a charity hospital. This temple is famous for many mystery legends, which happened during the Mughal period. People in the temple would be more than happy to share the anecdotes with you. The temple has Manastambha column near the entry gate, which is said to greet every visitor. The temple has simple architecture and yet, it is glorified with glided roof, red sandstone artwork, delicate carvings and many others.

How To Reach?

The nearest airport and railway station are located in Delhi. Chandni Chowk is easily reached by metro rail, buses, cabs and auto. Once inside Chandni Chowk, you need to walk towards the temple.

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5. Palitana Group Of Temples

Palitana group of temples hold more than 3000 temples and is an important pilgrimage site in Gujarat. Out of 3000 temples in this complex, 863 temples are dedicated to Jainism. Tourists have to climb a little less than 4000 stone steps to get to the temple gate. The main Jain temple in this group is the Rishabanath temple, which is famous for its pure white marble ornamentation and unique structure. The deity in this temple is made with marble and decorated with gold ornaments. This group of temples is assumed as the residence of deities and thus, no living soul is allowed inside the temple during night.

How To Reach?

The nearest airport and railway station are located in Bhavnagar. You can find numerous transportation options from Bhavnagar and other surrounding regions to reach the temples, directly.

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6. Sonagiri Temple

This white temple is dedicated to Digambar Jains, a small sect of Jainism. Located in a small and peaceful town of Sonagiri of Madhya Pradesh, this temple is located on a small mount, Shatrunjaya. The mount holds more than 900 temples, each one unique and interesting. This white temple is famous for its beauty during sunrise, unique rituals and the countless architectural marvels. One need to climb 300 steps, bare footed. You can find jeweled statues, sculptures, carvings and many other interesting elements inside the temple. Since it is located in the middle of a serene and secluded mount, peace is inevitable.

How To Reach?

The nearest airport is located in Gwalior. The town of Sonagiri has a small railway station, which is served by trains from surrounding regions. The temple is around 11 km away from the railway station. You can find cabs and buses from the railway station to the temple.

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7. Kulpakji Temple

Located in Telangana region, this temple is more than 2000 years old. It is an important pilgrimage site for Svetabaram Jains, a section of Jainism. This temple is decorated with red sandstones and white marbles. The temple holds idols of Lord Mahavira, Lord Rishabhanatha and Lord Neminatha. The idol of Lord Mahavira is the top attraction of this temple. This 130 cm long statue is made entirely out of one single piece of jade. This is an important site to visit if you are looking for a peaceful time.

How To Reach?

The temple is located around 100 km away from Hyderabad. The nearest airport and railway station are located in Hyderabad. You can find all kinds of transportation to reach the temple from any part of Hyderabad.

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8. Darmanath Temple

This is the main Jain temple of Kerala. The Dharmanath temple is famous for its century-old look, utter silence and intricate sculpture and designs. The temple is maintained at spotless cleanliness and, it is almost similar to Dilwara temples of Rajasthan, in terms of architectural style and carvings. This is the best place for meditation and a peaceful time. In this temple, idols of four main Jain leaders are placed inside the sanctum and it is said to be the main area for achieving teerth.

How To Reach?

The nearest airport and railway station are located in Cochin, which is just 42 km away from the temple. You can find cabs, buses and autos from the railway station and airport to the temple.

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9. Shikharji Temple

Located on the highest mountain of Jharkhand, Parasnath Hills, this temple is a renowned pilgrimage site. This temple is the spot where most of the Jain leaders achieved their enlightenment.  It is said that the leaders had to perform meditation and other rituals to retrieve themselves from the cycle of life. Pilgrimages take up the walking tour, which stretches for 54 km. This route is said to be taken by sacred leaders in the past. Those who do not have the strength for the walking tour, hire palanquins. You can find inscriptions about this temple in literature of 17^th century.

How To Reach?

The nearest airport is located in Ranchi. However, people usually prefer traveling by train to Parasnath railway station and then, choose any road transportation to reach the temple.

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10. Hanumantal Jain Temple

This is an important Jain temple of 17^th century. This temple gets its fame because; it is the starting point of annual procession, which takes place during Mahavir Jayanti. This temple has numerous floors filled with intricate designs, sculptures and other architectural marvels. You can find images of different time in this temple. This huge temple has only one idol, which represents the Goddess Padmavati. This temple holds 22 different shrine inside the complex, making it the largest singular Jain temple of the country. The main beauty of the temple is the chronological display of paintings from era of Kalachuri to modern times.

How To Reach?

The best way to reach the temple is by reaching Jabalpur. From Jabalpur, you can find numerous transportation options to reach the temple. Jabalpur has a domestic airport and a railway station.

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For more than 2000 years, Jainism thrived in India and the result of this religion is the bunch of temples with masterpiece carvings, beautiful structures and other elements. Many temples of Jainism are closely linked with mythologies and anecdotes. If you talk with the priests of the temple, you can easily learn many interesting stories. This is not the exclusive list of Jain temples of the country. Apart from these ten temples, other notable temples are Undavalli caves, Hrinkar Teerth, Tihu Jain temple, Jal Mandir of Bihar, Neminath Jain Basti of Goa, Ambika Mata temple of Himachal Pradesh, Shantinath Jain Teerth of Maharashtra and many others.

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