Nemgiri is a place in

Jintur Jintur city and a municipal council in Parbhani district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Geography Jintur is located at . It has an average elevation of 455 metres (1492 feet). Demographics As population of 2011 India census, Ji ...

taluka of Parbhani district of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

state of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Nemgiri is particularly known for its

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 ...

temple which is protected by state government and

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexande ...

History

Nemgiri is named after twenty-second

tirthankara In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (Sanskrit: '; English: literally a 'ford-maker') is a saviour and spiritual teacher of the ''dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a '' tirtha'', which is a fordable passag ...

Neminatha Neminatha, also known as Nemi and Arishtanemi, is the twenty-second ''tirthankara'' (ford-maker) in Jainism. Along with Mahavira, Parshvanatha and Rishabhanatha, Neminatha is one of the twenty four ''tirthankaras'' who attract the most devo ...

. In

Marathi language Marathi (; ''Marāṭhī'', ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the official language of Maharashtra, and additional official language in the state o ...

or originally in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

, ''Nemi'' is for ''Neminatha'' while ''giri'' means ''mountain''. There is no specific historical knowledge about this particular fort with the name Nemgiri, which

Rashtrakuta Rashtrakuta (IAST: ') (r. 753-982 CE) was a royal Indian dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their ...

kings have ruled in

. However, there is some historical knowledge available about the caves. In ancient times this area was known as Jainpur, in 9th century during the time of Emperor

Amoghavarsha Amoghavarsha I (also known as Amoghavarsha Nrupathunga I) (r.814–878 CE) was the greatest emperor of the Rashtrakuta dynasty, and one of the most notable rulers of Ancient India. His reign of 64 years is one of the longest precisely dated mo ...

of Rashtrakut Family. Later, in the middle period of Indian History, this was destroyed by invaders, and its name changed to ''Jintur'', which is its current name. At that time, 300 Jain families and 14 Jain Temples were present. Out of them, only two temples currently remain. In the year 1609 AD, this holy site was reconstructed and developed by Shri Veer Sangavi of Bagherwal Caste. It is said that "Samavsharan" of Lord Mahaveer came here, and that the last Shrut Kevali Acharya Bhadrabahu with his 1200 scholars (including

Chandragupta Maurya Chandragupta Maurya (350-295 BCE) was a ruler in Ancient India who expanded a geographically-extensive kingdom based in Magadha and founded the Maurya dynasty. He reigned from 320 BCE to 298 BCE. The Maurya kingdom expanded to become an empi ...

, one of the emperors of ancient

) installed the idol of Lord Parshvanatha. The idol is said to float at a height of 3 inches. So this is called "Antariksha Parsvanath". According to

archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

the idols of this Tirtha (holy site of Hinduism and/or Jainism) are 1000 years old or more.

Temple

The holy site is situated in sub hills of Sahyadri Mountains, in the area of Parbhani district away from Jintur. Two hills, named Nemgiri and Chandragiri, are known for their ancient, artistic, and miraculous Jain Cave Temples and Chaityalayas. There are two temples and seven caves on the two hills. The hills are named as Nemgiri and chandragiri respectively. On Nemgiri hill there are seven caves. The caves have tiny entrances but the idols inside are quiet large. Nemgiri caves are unique examples of engineering of that era.

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* * {{Jainism topics Parbhani district Tourist attractions in Parbhani district 8th-century Jain temples Jain temples in Maharashtra

History

Temple

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Reference

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