An enriching experience
By Reeta Sharma

IT certainly would need a lifetime to sketch the rich historical heritage of Rajasthan — the country’s second largest state, spread over 32 districts. Initially, I had not included Udaipur in my travel schedule but when Jaisalmer’s annual Desert Festival got cancelled because of the earthquake in Gujarat, I made use of the extra time on my hands to visit the place. And it turned out to be the most enriching experience of my life.

From Ajmer, Udaipur is about nine hours’ drive. On an earlier occasion I had seen the Dilwara temple in Mount Abu, and was simply struck by its architecture and the intricate carvings. But I was told that the Ranakpur Jain temple on way to Udaipur would overshadow my memories of Dilwara. How true the observation was! The Ranakpur Jain temple is situated in a valley of silence. The temple, surrounded on all sides by wildlife protected area, seems to suddenly appear in middle of the woods.

It’s an enormous marble structure that looks like an ancient palace. It was built in 1439 during the rule of Maharaja Kumbha. He had given permission to one Porwal Jain merchant, Darshan Shah, to build this temple on his land. Shah spent the next 55 years in completing this temple. He hired 21,000 artisans from this area as well as from all over India to realise his dream-project. He opened a community kitchen for the artisans, who created designs on marble that have withstood the onslaught of centuries. Even today, the imposing structure is sparkling white and seems as if it has been built just yesterday.

This temple has 1,444 pillars, lending support to the roofs of 29 halls. These halls are jointly named the Chaumukha temple (four-faced), attributed to the first Jain Tirthankar, Lord Rishabhnathji or Adinathji. In front of the Chaumukha temple stand two small temples and a Sun temple, on which the rays of the rising and the setting sun fall. This monument speaks volumes about the skills of the architects of that century. Interestingly, no carving on the Ranakpur temple has been repeated. The designs bear some resemblance to the Dilwara temple and even the Konark temple of Orissa. Most of the carvings depict our gods and goddesses and mythological scenes.

The trust which is managing this centuries-old temple has build an inn nearby. However, the lighting of the temple leaves much to be desired. You have a huge chandelier (the ostentatious display jars with the mystic ambience) at the main entrance. Then you have wooden poles with tubelights crudely fixed on them all around the temple. These ugly poles certainly ruin your shots to capture the temple in all its glory. And the trust members simply refuse to listen to any constructive suggestions.

Though the Ranakpur temple is approachable by beautifully maintained roads, yet it is at quite a distance from all the major district headquarters around it. From Ajmer, the bus takes anything from seven to eight hours to reach this place. From Udaipur, it takes about four hours to reach Ranakpur. From the Falna railway station on the Ajmer-Ahmedabad route, the temple is merely 40 km away. Perhaps, due to this reason people of Gujarat throng the temple all the year round. On an average, three to four lakh devotees, pilgrims, and tourists visit this Jain temple every year. In the middle of the forest, standing before this elegant structure, while you are wondering about your stay and food, you have yet another surprise awaiting you. Turn out of the gate to your right, drive for three minutes and you find an impressive building with the board— Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Hotel. It has reasonably priced rooms and provides food cooked as per your choice.