Taranga Jain Temples

Jain Temples at Taranga Hill

Taranga Jain Temple (Taranga Tirtha) is a place of pilgrimage of Digambar and Shwetambar Jains in Mehsana district of Gujarat. It was constructed in the 12th century CE by king Kumarpal of Solanki dynasty, advised by his teacher Acharya Hemachandra. The pilgrimage site consists of 14 temples with a Shikhara temple, dedicated to Ajitanātha, in the centre.

• Digambar Jains settled on this isolated hill with its three rocky peaks.
• Taranaga is a siddha kshetra and it is said that 35,000,000 Munis, including Vardutt and Sagardutt, attained nirvana from this place.
• The two hillocks, named Kotishila and Sidhhshila, have idols of Bhagwan Neminath and Bhagwan Mallinath of Vikram 1292 (1235 CE).

Shvetambara Ajitaprasad or Ajitnath Vihara

Taranga tirth is situated in the midst of the Arvalli hills in the midst of beautiful sceneries of nature, exquisite prosperity of art and architecture. The main temple in the tirth is 150 ft. in length, 100 feet wide and 142 ft. in height. The structure of the temple is like that of Mahameru-palace. The temple has in it an idol of Shri Ajitnath Bhagavan; it is 2.75 metres in height, of white complexion and in Padmasana posture. The temple is therefore known as Ajitaprasad or Ajitnath Vihara. On no hill in the country do we have a temple as high as the Taranga tirtha. We would naturally consider and wonder as to how much labour and effort must have been put in the construction of this temple at such a spot, with all its majesty and supreme art.

One of the Mahatirthas in the chief five Mahatirthas of the Jainas is the tirth at Taranga. In the first century of the Vikrama era, the Jain king Vatsaraja constructed here a temple of Siddhayika devi. Thereafter, in V.S. 1221 (1164 CE), King Kumarpala constructed this vast temple which is very rich in sculptural art. We also have a reference which states that in V.S. 1284 (1227 CE), on the second day of the dark half of Falguna, Vastupala-Tejpala installed the idols of Shri Adinath Prabhu in two porticos at the auspicious hands of Shri Vijayasenasuriji. We also get records to show that there were ceremonious installations in V.S. 1479 (1422 CE), at the auspicious hands of Acharya Shri Somachandasuriji through Shri Govinda Shreshthi and also in V.S. 1642 (1585 CE) at the auspicious hands of Acharya Shri Vijayasensuriji. In the vast quarter of the temple we have the temple of Kunthunatha Bhagavan as also the Sahasrakuta temple, the Nandishvara dvipa etc. and Kotishila, Moksha window etc. outside.

Name:	Ajitaprasad or Ajitnath Vihara
Location:	Taranga Hill
Dedicated to:	Ajitanatha
Adresses:	Shri Anandji Kalyanji Swetambar Murtipujak Jain Pedhi P.O. Taranga - 384325, District Mehsana Gujarat, India
Phone no.:	02761 295071

Digambara Jain Temples

Taranaga is a siddha kshetra. It is said that 35,000,000 munis, including Vardutt and Sagardutt, attained nirvana from this place. The two hillocks named Kotishila and Siddhashila have idols of Bhagwan Neminath and Bhagwan Mallinath of V.S. 1292 (1235 CE). In addition there are fourteen Digambar Jain temples (including dharmashala) in the foothills.

In ancient times this place of pilgrimage was known as Tarvur, Taravar Nagar, Tarangiri and Tarangarh. In his book “Kumarpal Pratibodh”, witten in V.S. 1241 (1184 CE), Achrya Shri Somprabhsurishwar describes the establishing of a Jain temple at this place.

Name:	Digambar Jain Temples and siddha kshetra
Location:	Taranga Hills
Adress:	Shri Digambar Jain Kothi Taranga Temple Siddh Kshetra P.O. Taranga - 384325, District Mehsana Gujarat, India

 

Jain Temples at Taranga Hills