Ranakpur
| Ranakpur | |||
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 India
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| State : | Rajasthan | ||
| District : | Pali | ||
| Location : | 25 ° 8 ′ N , 73 ° 27 ′ E | ||
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Ranakpur ( Hindi : रणकपुर, Raṇakpur) is a small town in the Pali district in the Indian state of Rajasthan . It is known for the temple group from the 15th century, which is probably the largest and most lavishly decorated temple complex of the Jainas in India.
location
Ranakpur is located at an altitude of 486 meters in a remote wooded valley in the west of the Aravalli mountain range, ten kilometers south of the small town of Sadri on a line between Jodhpur and Udaipur , 96 kilometers from the latter city to the north. The nearest train station is Falna Junction about 30 kilometers west. Due to its tourist attraction, the place has several hotels and, as an important pilgrimage destination for Jainas, appropriate accommodations. The Dilwara group of temples is better known for tourism and was built in the 11th century on the top of the 1,300 meter high Mount Abu in the southern part of the Aravalli Mountains.
history
For the Jainas of northern India, in their main settlement areas, which are mainly in Gujarat and Rajasthan, certain mountains are considered sacred, as they are each assigned to one of the Tirthankaras , the mythical forerunners of the historical founder of the religion Mahavira . Groups of four mountains are combined as images of the four cardinal points and are connected to each other as places of pilgrimage. The importance of Ranakpur and the city's temples is established by drawing attention to these sacred mountain sites through images and models displayed in the temples.
Around the 2nd century BC BC Mathura was the north Indian center of Jainism. From the 12th century the belief was predominant in Gujarat, and to a lesser extent in Rajasthan. It was the heyday of the Jain Temple. Many temples in northwest India were destroyed by Muslim conquests in the following centuries and new constructions were not possible. In remote areas like Ranakpur, a revival of temple construction began in the 15th century, with previous architectural forms being copied. The temples of Ranakpur were founded by a foundation of Dharanashah, the finance minister of Rana Kumbha (1433–1468), a Rajput ruler of the regional Sisodia clan of Mewar (around Udaipur ). Under Rana Kumbha, after the fall of the Sultanate of Delhi at the end of the 14th century, Mewar was able to develop into a powerful state, numerous castles and temples were built, including the Chaumukha Temple of Ranakpur, begun in 1438 . The construction time was around 60 years until the end of the century.
Blueprint
Jainism did not develop an independent architecture , the design of the temples corresponds to the Hindu buildings of the same time, but was adapted to the special needs of the Jaina ritual.
Adinatha Temple
1 - Garbhagriha , main room with Chaumukha statue
2 - Rangamandapa or Sabhamandapa, as assembly hall
3 - Meghanadamandapa, high domed vestibule
4 - corner shrine
In the center of a square courtyard is the main temple dedicated to Adinatha , the first in the series of 24 Tirthankaras. It has the shape of a Chaumukha temple ("four-faced"), in the center of which a Tirthankara statue is set up with four faces looking in the cardinal directions. On the four sides, the three- story central room is surrounded by open pillared halls ( rangamandapa ). The central room and vestibules are surrounded by a colonnade with 78 niches for Tirthankara statues. The entire temple complex measures 66 × 68 meters outside, without the staircases built on each side, and stands on a slightly inclined slope on a terrace ( jagati ), which forms a high base to the main entrance on the south side. The portals are laid out on three floors as open balconies and are accessible via stairs. In the four corners of the courtyard are smaller temples, each surrounded by 20 domed pavilions and supported by a total of 420 columns. After crossing the portal, one arrives at a central pavilion, a three-story temple vestibule ( rangamandapa ), the opposite hall is two-story and covered by a particularly wide dome with a diameter of eleven meters. From a distance, tall Shikhara roof towers can be seen protruding from round domes covered with mortar. The domes are designed as ring-layer ceilings (a shape adjustment to Islamic buildings) and rise above an octagonal layer of stone beams that form the transition to twelve square columns. The roof shapes of all buildings are supported by a total of 1444 load-bearing columns, which are all designed differently in their playful ornamentation. 24 pillared halls are covered with 80 round domes. The entire temple is made of cream-colored marble, like the pillars, all wall surfaces are covered with small figure decorations. Although not in terms of conception, it surpasses all other Jain temples in terms of design effort.
Adinatha , also called Rishabhanatha , stands at the beginning of human development and is usually depicted with shoulder-length hair. Along with the last three, he is one of the most widely revered tirthankaras.
Temple of the area
The Parshvanatha temple from the middle of the 15th century is named after the 23rd Tirthankara, the forerunner of Mahavira . Parshvanatha, already regarded as historical, was founded in 872 BC. Born in BC and reached the ideal age of 100 years. The temple has the typical North Indian roof structure ( Shikhara ) over the cult room and a flat columned hall in front of it. In the cella there is a statue made of black stone, over whose head a protective cobra with several heads protrudes as a characteristic of Parshvanatha. All the walls have the same lush figure decoration, as everywhere there are graceful erotic figures; the temple entrance faces north.
Next to it is a smaller temple for Neminatha , the 22nd Tirthankara. Its entrance is in the east, as is the entrance to the Surya Narayana temple a few meters to the south , whose representation of the sun god Surya in his chariot drawn by seven horses is worth seeing. The mandapa is formed by a square flat ceiling on 16 columns and an adjoining dome.
Notes on the ritual
In the Chaumukha temple the central room to the vestibules is open and bright on all sides. No god is worshiped, but meditates in front of one of the Tirthankaras, who is seen as a role model because he has already achieved the perfection he is striving for. There is no need for a brahmin as in the Hindu temple, who performs the ritual as an intermediary. Tirthankaras are “liberated” saints whose actual presence in the still image makes the prohibition of photography understandable. There are numerous other smaller temples in the same design, which pilgrims visit every year in October / November.
In contrast to the narrow cult chamber of the Hindu temple, the openness of the central cult room in the Chaumukha temple serves the ritual triple circumnavigation of the image, which corresponds to the belief in the three jewels . The rituals to be performed take place in direct exchange with the cult objects, also by touching them, are precisely defined in their sequence, easy to carry out, but have a complicated symbolic content.
Adinatha temple, staircase and portico
Ring-layer ceiling made of protruding stone slabs over the Meghanadamandapa. In the middle the lotus stone Padmashila hangs down.
Crossing stone beams on supports support the flat ceiling of a mandapa. Sculpture of the white elephant Airavata .
Surya Temple from the northwest.
literature
- Thomas Dix, Lothar Clermont: Rajasthan. Stürtz Verlag, Würzburg 2006, ISBN 3-8003-1594-7
- Sehdev Kumar: Jain Temples of Rajasthan. Architecture and Iconography. Abhinav Publications, New Delhi 2001
Web links
- Takeo Kamiya: Chapter 6. The Adinatha Temple at Ranakpur . ( Memento from March 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- Bernhard Peter: Architecture Ranakpur
- Bonnorama: Pictures of the temples, including a 360-degree panorama