Dilwara temple
The Dilwara temples at Mount Abu in the Indian state of Rajasthan are among the highlights of Jain art ; they are an important pilgrimage site for Jainas from all over India.
Location etc.
The complex, which consists of five temples, is located in the village of Dilwara at an altitude of about 1250 m, about 2.5 km north of the city of Mount Abu in the Aravalli Mountains . The road continues to Achalgarh, about 10 km to the northeast . The temples are usually only open to visitors in the afternoon; there is a strict ban on photography.
history
The construction of the temples goes back to the foundations of ministers at the court of the Solanki dynasty and wealthy merchants in the 11th to 16th centuries. After repeated destruction by Islamic armies, they were rebuilt again and again by later generations and provided with new statues and extremely rich picture decorations.
buildings
- Vimal Vasahi Temple
The Vimal Vasahi Temple is dedicated to the first Tirthankara Adinath or Rishaba. The actual temple with its cella ( garbhagriha ) located to the west and the two small vestibules was donated in 1031 and is surrounded by a rectangular wall that was added later, on the inner walls of which there is a double colonnade with a multitude of shrines in which Tirthankara- Figures sit in meditation posture but with eyes wide open. The richness of figurative and ornamental decoration of the large vestibule ( mandapa ) from the 12th or 13th century with its floating Torana arches is overwhelming: 'beautiful girls' ( surasundaris ), lovers ( mithunas ) can be found as well as small figures of gods from the Hindu world Pantheon . The cantilever dome with numerous hanging keystones and its diameter of approx. 8 m is one of the greatest achievements of Indian stonemasons of the Middle Ages; heavenly Apsaras in changing poses form the figural jewelry. A ritual walk ( pradakshina ) of the cella ( garbhagriha ) was only possible in the open space of the courtyard.
- Luna Vasahi Temple
The Luna Vasahi Temple, consecrated to the 22nd Tirthankara Neminatha , was founded around the year 1230 by two wealthy merchant brothers who possibly also expanded the Vimal Vasahi Temple. It is slightly smaller in size, but otherwise structured in a similar way to its artistic model - only that the cella is in the east. Here, too, the pillars and the cantilevered dome of the large vestibule are among the most technically and artistically outstanding components.
- Pittalhar Temple
The temple, which was begun in 1439 and about 30 years later equipped with a portrait of Rishaba or Adinath made of brass and other metals, has remained largely unfinished.
- Parshvanatha Temple
The floor plan of the Parshvanatha Temple (sometimes also called Khartar Vasahi Temple ), which dates from 1458/9, is roughly cruciform and in parts three-story. The changed structural conception made it possible to walk around the sanctum within the temple.
- Mahavir Swami Temple
The Mahavira temple, dedicated to the last of the 24 tirthankaras, is the smallest and most unadorned of the group and dates from 1582.
literature
- Lothar Clermont and Thomas Dix: Jainism and the Temples of Mount Abu and Ranakpur. Prakash Books, New Delhi 1998, ISBN 81-7234-013-3
- Sehdev Kumar: Jain Temples of Rajasthan. Architecture and Iconography. Abhinav Publications, New Delhi 2001, ISBN 978-81-7827-017-3
Web links
- Dilwara Jain Temple - Photo + Info (English)
- Dilwara Jain Temple - Info
- Dilwara temple - photos floor plan, information (English)
- Dilwara Temple Photos
Coordinates: 24 ° 36 ′ 33 " N , 72 ° 43 ′ 23" E