Kirti Stambha is a 12th-century tower situated at

Chittor Fort The Chittorgarh (literally Chittor Fort), also known as Chittod Fort, is one of the largest forts in India. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The fort was the capital of Mewar and is located in the present-day city of Chittorgarh. It sprawl ...

Chittorgarh Chittorgarh (also Chittor or Chittaurgarh) is a major city in Rajasthan state of western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgarh District. It was a major stronghol ...

town of

Rajasthan, India Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

History

Chittor has a history going back several centuries. It was an ancient centre of Jain tradition. Chittor is adjacent to the ancient city of

Madhyamika Mādhyamaka ("middle way" or "centrism"; ; Tibetan: དབུ་མ་པ ; ''dbu ma pa''), otherwise known as Śūnyavāda ("the emptiness doctrine") and Niḥsvabhāvavāda ("the no ''svabhāva'' doctrine"), refers to a tradition of Buddhist ...

. The Jain inscriptions at

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

from the Kushana period (1st to 3rd centuries) mention a "Majjhimilla" branch of the "Kottiya" gana, indicating that it was a major Jain centre. The famous Acharya

Haribhadra Aacharya Haribhadra Suri was a Svetambara mendicant Jain leader, philosopher , doxographer, and author. There are multiple contradictory dates assigned to his birth. According to tradition, he lived c. 459–529 CE. However, in 1919, a Jain m ...

Suri (6th century) was born in Chittor and wrote "Dhurtopakhyana" there. There was a scholar Elacharya at Chittor from whom Vira-senacharya (9th century) learned the ancient Shat-khandagama and Kashayapahuda.

Virasena Acharya Virasena (792-853 CE), also known as Veerasena, was a Digambara monk and belonged to the lineage of Acharya Kundakunda. He was an Indian mathematician and Jain philosopher and scholar. He was also known as a famous orator and an accompl ...

later wrote the famous "

Dhavala The (Sanskrit: "Scripture in Six Parts") is the foremost and oldest Digambara Jain sacred text. According to Digambara tradition, the original canonical scriptures of the Jains were totally lost within a few centuries of ''Nirvana'' of Ma ...

" and "Jayadhavala" on the basis of these books. The tower was built by a

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

merchant Jeeja Bhagerwala during the reign of Rawal Kumar Singh in CE. It was the residence of Jinavallabha who propagated the Vidhimarga in the 12th century. From the 15th to 17th centuries, it was the seat of a Bhattaraka. Three inscriptions have been found that mention Jija of Bagherwal community as the builder of the stambha. One of the inscriptions mention Dharmakirti, the disciple of Shubhakirti, who was disciple of Vasantkirti. According to the

Balatkara Gana Balatkara Gana is an ancient Jain monastic order. It is a section of the Mula Sangh. It is often termed ''Balatkara Gana Sarasvati Gachchha''. Until the beginning of the 20th century it was present in a number of places in India. However all ...

Pattavali A Pattavali (From Sanskrit patta: seat, avali: chain), Sthaviravali or Theravali, is a record of a spiritual lineage of heads of monastic orders. They are thus spiritual genealogies. It is generally presumed that two successive names are teach ...

, Dharmakirti headed the patta during 1224-1257 AD. Thus the structure dates from the 13th century, although an unrelated Jain inscription of 896 AD was found in the vicinity.Niraj Jain, Chittor Darshan, Vira Nivan Granth prakasha Samiti, 1980 Kirti Stambha is older than another tower in the same fort, known as the

Vijay Stambha The Vijaya Stambha is an imposing victory monument located within Chittor Fort in Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, India. The tower was constructed by the Hindu Rajput king Rana Kumbha of Mewar in 1448 to commemorate his victory over the army of Malwa l ...

(Tower of Victory).

Architecture

The tower is built in the Solanki style. The tower is Height. The tower is famous for its for intricate carvings and architecture. The seven storey temple is adorned by sculpture and mouldings from the base to summit. The carvings on each summit is different from other. The tower stands near the ''Saat-Bees'' Jain temple. The lower level is called ''Hansh Peeth'', then ''Sinha-mukh Thar'', ''Gaja Thar'' and ''Nava Thar''.

Gallery

File:Kirti Stambha.jpg, A recent photo of the tower standing tall in Chittor File:Kirti stambh.jpg,

Mahavir Mahavira (Sanskrit: महावीर) also known as Vardhaman, was the 24th ''tirthankara'' (supreme preacher) of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of the 23rd ''tirthankara'' Parshvanatha. Mahavira was born in the early part of the 6t ...

temple with Kirti Stambha File:Jain temple inside Chittorgarh Fort.jpg, Mahavir Jain temple File:Jain mandir , Chittorgarh.JPG, ''Saat-Bees'' Jain temple near Kirti Stampla

References

Citations

Sources

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External links

Towers in India Monuments and memorials in Rajasthan Chittorgarh Fort Jain architecture 12th-century Jain temples {{India-struct-stub