Ranakpur Jain Temple:Rajasthan

Year 2016 or before that, I did not have any idea about how beautiful and unspoiled a place can be. Until I explored this side of Rajasthan, specially the Jain temple of Ranakpur and Kumbhalgarh fort.

Actually I had heard about these places from a few people, but beauty of a place can be only experienced by going and feeling it yourself.

Table of contents

• Jawai dam(जवाई बांध)
• – How to reach here
• – What is so special about Jawai dam
• Ranakpur Jain Temple
• – History of Ranakpur temple
• – How to reach Ranakpur
• – Hotels nearby Ranakpur Jain temple

September 2016, sitting at home. Younger brother, cousin, brother in law and myself. As a practice, while all of us are together, we always keep our phones aside.

So we were Talking about some random stuff, just to pass time. The conversation started with formal chitchatting, then leading through conversing about our last meetings, relatives,upcoming gatherings, politics and some other things we reached to our last road-trip of Sariska.

Then my cousin asked if we are all ready again for a road-trip. As we were all free, so we planned to depart early in the morning on very next day and obtained permission from our parents as well for the same.

The strange thing was that we did not decide about where are we going. But who cares about that really, when we have good company. 

So next day at around 6 in the morning everybody got ready and after breakfast, loaded our stuff in the car. Still undecided about where should we be heading. 

At around 7, we left for somewhere. Came out of the city, on highway. But still we could not decide about out destination. So we stopped our car on roadside and after 10 mins of discussion we made the route planning. 

–Jawai dam Pali (Jawai Baandh)

-Jain temple of Ranakpur

-Parshuram mahadev cave temple

-Kumbhalgarh wildlife sanctuary

–Kumbhalgarh fort

-And udaipur city

As all of the these places are nearby and can be covered easily in 3-4 day. 

Jawai dam Pali(जवाई बांध)

So we headed straight for Jawai dam(usually called jawai baandh in the area) via jodhpur and pali. Jawai baandh is situated between the range of granite hills, near Sumerpur town in Pali district.

How to reach here

We can reach here easily by train(Jawai baand Railway station) or by bus and the nearest airport is Jodhpur airport. The airport is around 147kms from Jawai dam, Pali.

What is so special about Jawai dam, Pali

The best thing i found out about this dam is that it  can be visited during any season or month. You will never find it too hot or too cold. The view from the dam is just amazing.

Leopard safaris is also available at jawai baandh. No official figures though, but leopards can be found roaming in the area near jawai dam. And in that matter we should avoid going too close to the water also, as jawai baand has a lot of crocodiles, which can be sighted resting and waiting for a prey near the coast. 

As we were getting late and could miss out something. So we did not stop the car after leaving jodhpur until we reached Jawai dam. 

So finally at 12:30 we reached Jawai dam. Too beautiful place i can say. The landscape is filled with granite hills. This place is really a treasure for nature and wildlife lovers for its unmatched topography. 

So we spent around 1.5 hrs at jawai dam clicking pictures, enjoying tea and bhutta. The place was really magnificent.

Jain temple of Ranakpur (रणकपुर जैन मंदिर)

So at around 14:00 we left for our next stop- Ranakpur Jain temple.

The Jain temple of Ranakpur is a true beauty in itself. 

History of Ranakpur Jain temple

A local businessman named Darna Shah wanted to build one beautiful temple. He called many famous artists for their ideas for building the temple, but none of them could impress him. Then, an architect named Deepak from Mundara presented a plan in front of Darna which he really liked.

He requested the king Rana Kumbha, for land to build this temple. Not only did Rana provided him with the land but he also advised Darna to create a town near the temple.

The construction of the temple started in 1389 and it continued till 1458 CE. It took 50 years for the construction to be completed and approximately two thousand seven hundred and eighty-five workers were involved.

Actually this Jain temple is dedicated to Tirthankara Rishabhananta. It is considered as one of the 5 most sacred places for jains. Surrounded by Aravali hills, Ranakpur temple is well known for it’s splendid architecture. It comprises of twenty-nine halls and twenty domes. 

One more amazing fact about this temple is that it is supported by 1400 beautifully carved pillars, and no two pillars in the temple are the same. Pillars are carved with beautifully carved ancient designs. If you come to Rajasthan and visit to south rajasthan then i think this is one of the must see places in Rajasthan. 

How to reach here

By air: Udaipur is the nearest domestic airport, which is 95kms from the temple. Second option can be Jodhpur airport, which is 155km from the temple.
Train: “Falna railway station” is the nearest railway station.
By road: 95km by road from Udaipur. While 155kms from Jodhpur.

So as we reached Ranakpur temple at around 15:30 and took a break for tea-coffee just outside the temple. Actually there is only one shop for that outside temple. So you will not get too many options to eat or anything for that matter. 

After that we proceeded to the temple. Parked our car in the temple parking. And there are some rules for the visitors who wish to see the temple. A few of them are like visitors can not wear anything made of leather, their body should be fully covered. Bare shoulders and shorts are prohibited. 

So as we were fulfilling all the requirements, we just bought the tickets and proceeded inside. We obtained permission for one camera to be taken inside with us, because it is not allowed without permission and payment with a receipt.  

Hotels near the Jain temple of Ranakpur

There is a small town “Sadri” near the temple. Where you can find lot of decent hotels to stay. The hotels are not too costly. The tariff ranges from 500Rs to 5000Rs for one night.

A few good hotels in descending price order, near the Jain temple of Ranakpur are as below:

• Welcom heritage, Ranakpur
• Hotel king’s abode
• Hariyali Resort

We spent good 2 hrs inside the temple. Enjoyed it’s calmness. And with some good memories we left for our next destination- Parshuram Mahadev Cave temple and Kumbhalgarh fort

Which i will describe about in my next blog.

This is my first blog, so please comment your opinions and any areas of improvements.

Thanks for reading