RanakpurTirth

Ranakpur‬ is located in the mountain ranges of Pali district, (Rajasthan) 23 kms away from the ‪‎Phalna‬ railway station and about 95Kms from ‪‎Udaipur‬. Covering an area nearly 4500 square yards, and having 29 halls, Ranakpur is one of the five most important pilgrimage sites of Jainism. Chaumukha (entry from 4 sides in the temple) temple is dedicated to Lord Aadinath, the first '‪‎Tirthankara‬. The Ranakpur Jain Temple was built during the reign of the open-minded and gifted Rajput emperor Rana Kumbha in the 15th century, in the AD 1439.

It is said that, during those days, Dhanna Shah, had a dream in which he was instructed to built a great temple. Rana Kumbha donated a vast stretch of land to Dhanna Shah so as to enable him to build the temple. There is an inscription on a pillar near the main shrine stating that in 1439 Deepaka, an architect constructed the temple at the direction of Dharanka, a devoted Jain.

The beauty of this temple is indeed beyond description. A small shrine dedicated to Prashvanath faces the main temple. It has a black image of the tirthankara in the inner chamber. There are images of ‪‎Adinath‬ in the north west, ‪Parshvanath‬ in the north east, ‪‎Ajitnath‬ in the south-east and Lord ‪#‎Mahavira‬ Swami in the south west.

It is also said that there are 1,444 columns in the temple, though no one have ever been able to count them and also no 2 columns are similar. It is believed that as the sun rays shift through the day the pillars color change from gold to pale blue in the mandap (prayer hall). The construction of the main shrine alone took more than 50 years.

Indian Postal Department has issued two beautiful stamps on World famous Jain Temples of RANAKPUR and ‪‎DILWARA‬ on 14th Oct. 2009.