About

There are FIVE temples in the Dilwara Temples complex at Mount Abu. Sequentially, the first is the smallest, and the last (Parshvanath temple) is the biggest, with a three-storey shikhara. On the outside, the temples are rather unremarkable to see. There is a stone structure on which masonry plaster work has been applied, and a drab coat of whitewash which is peeling off. The roof sports masonry stupa-structures, over the smaller shrines, and a modest nagara style spire over the central shrine.

The real beauty of these temples lies under the roof. In the exquisitely carved columns, ceilings, corbels, capitals, door frames, and the thrones on which the main idols are seated. The figures range in size from 2 inches to 2 feet or more. They are, for the most part, not in bas relief, but as 3 dimensional figures with only the most tenuous connection to the supporting column or wall.

The first temple one comes across upon entering the complex is the Mahavir Swami temple, dedicated to the 24th Tirthankara, Mahavir Jain. It has beautifully decorated columns and ceiling.

The second temple, Vimal Vasahi, has an elephant stable in its courtyard – which contains several elephants sculpted in white marble. One sculpture showing the king mounted on a horse, while the rest of the dozen or so elephants have howdahs, one or two with a noble riding the elephant. The temple is enclosed in a cloistered hall which has 58 sub-shrines in niches in the wall. The corridors on the left and right have two rows of pillars, while the corridor at the back has a single row of pillars. The shrines are not equal in size. The door frames of each of the shrines has a distinct and different decorative motif, as does the ceiling in front of each shrine. The ceilings have decorative motifs, with some medallions, and a number of pendants (like chandeliers hanging from the ceiling). A few of the shrines (Number 19, 39, 40 for example) have a Shakti figure on the ceiling in front of the shrine, while one has an elaborate figure of Narasimha with his consort, Lakshmi. The main temple has a ranga-mandapa in front, which is a square-shaped open hall (of about 40 feet), containing an octagonal hall within. Both the square hall and the octagonal hall within are without walls, and have only pillars. There is a circular dome above the ranga mandapa with its base as the octagonal hall. Each of the pillars of the halls are richly decorated with geometric, floral, faunal, and human forms. There are some friezes which show couples dancing and occasionally in an amorous pose. Several of the columns have figures of voluptuous women in dance poses near the foot of the column. The dome has sixteen devis along the spines, depicting sixteen different learning skills. There are two dwarapalakas on either side of the main entrance. Many of these human figures have four arms, with a majority of them carrying a “dholi” or money purse in the left lower hand.

The Luna Vasahi temple is the third temple, and it is dedicated to Neminatha. It is very similar to the Vimal Vasahi temple, with equally delicate carvings covering the corridors from tip to toe. The garlands connecting the pillars in the rangamandapa are more elaborate than that in the Vimal Asahi temple. The corridor at the back of the temple has the elephant stable in place of the shrines that one encounters in the Vimal Vasahi temple.
Thousands of Figures of dancing yakshinis and gandharvas elaborately decorated with ornaments, animals – primarily elephants – and flowers cover every available inch of the columns, ceiling, and walls of the temples, with the Vimal Vasahi and the Luna Vasahi being the exemplars made exclusively in white marble.

The fourth temple is the Adinath Temple which has a similar layout, but is far less ornate than the two preceding temples.

The Parshvanath Temple is the largest one with three storeys and a double concentric octagonal hall on all four sides. It has some pillars and components in granite and other stone (black) as well.

The Jain temple complex is at Mount Abu, the hill station, which is about 4000 feet above the hot Rajasthan plains, whereas Abu Road is the nearest road junction at the foot of the hills. The long and circuitous road from Abu Road to Mount Abu climbs 4000 feet in about 18km. The breeze starts getting noticeably cooler within the first three to four kilometers.
No cameras or cell-phones are allowed in the temple complex.