Panchasara Parshwanath temple is a Jain temple located in Patan,

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. The temple was constructed in 8th century during the reign of

Vanaraja Chavda Vanaraja (IAST: Vanarāja Cāvaḍā) was the most prominent king of the Chavda dynasty who ruled Gujarat from c. 746 CE to c. 780 CE. Life Early life Kṛishṇabhaṭṭa’s (also known as Kṛṣṇakavi) ''Ratnamālā'' () says that in 695/ ...

Chavda dynasty The Chavda ( IAST:Chávaḍá), also spelled Chawda or Chavada was a dynasty which ruled the region of modern-day Gujarat in India, from c. 690 to 942. Variants of the name for the dynasty include Chapotkatas, Chahuda and Chávoṭakas. During ...

History

(c. 746 CE to c. 780 CE), the most prominent ruler of the

established the territory of Patan in 746 CE and built the Panchasara Parshwanath temple with main idol of

Parshvanatha ''Parshvanatha'' (), also known as ''Parshva'' () and ''Parasnath'', was the 23rd of 24 ''Tirthankaras'' (supreme preacher of dharma) of Jainism. He is the only Tirthankara who gained the title of ''Kalīkālkalpataru (Kalpavriksha in this "Kal ...

brought from

Panchasar Panchasar is a village in Shankheshwar Taluka of Patan district of Gujarat, India. History Panchasar is one of the oldest seats of power in north-west Gujarat. During the seventh century it was the capital of Jai Shikhri of the Chavda dynasty or ...

village. During the rule of

Chaulukya dynasty The Chaulukya dynasty (), also Solanki dynasty, was a dynasty that ruled parts of what are now Gujarat and Rajasthan in north-western India, between and . Their capital was located at Anahilavada (modern Patan). At times, their rule extended ...

(or Solanki dynasty), Patan was a major pilgrimage centre of

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, 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 ...

. There are more than 100 temples in the region. The temple was rebuilt in the 16th-17th century after destruction by Muslim invaders.

Temple

This temple is one of the largest temple in Patan. The temple is dedicated to Shwetambar sect of

. The temple is built with white marble with rich stonework with sacred carvings. The central idol is an tall marble idol of Parshvanatha is completely covered in ''parikara'' with image of

Padmavati Padmāvatī may refer to: Deities * Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of fortune * Alamelu, or Padmāvatī, a Hindu goddess and consort of Sri Venkateshwara of Tirupati * Manasa, a Hindu serpent goddess * Padmavati (Jainism), a Jain attendant goddess ( ...

holding 2 lotuses in upper hand, noose in right and goad in left hand. The domical ceiling is decorated by concentric circles of figures and bands of ornament with a lotus-shaped pendant extending from the dome of the center roof. The ceiling features eight bracket figures of musicians or dancers; between these figures are seated tirthankaras with yaksha and yakshi on either side. In Shvetambara tradition, idols tends to derive their name from a geographical region, the Pañcásar Parshvanath is one of 108 prominent idols of Parshvanath idols. The temple also houses an idol of

Vasupujya Vasupujya was the twelfth tirthankara in Jainism of the '' avasarpini'' (present age). According to Jain beliefs, he became a siddha, a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karma. Vasupujya was born to King Vasupujya and Queen Jaya De ...

in padmasan position sitting on big lotus with long stalk. The idol has images of

yakshi ''Yakshinis'' or ''yakshis'' (यक्षिणी sa, yakṣiṇī or ''yakṣī''; pi, yakkhiṇī or ''yakkhī'') are a class of female nature spirits in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious mythologies that are different from devas and ...

and

yaksha The yakshas ( sa, यक्ष ; pi, yakkha, i=yes) are a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in ...

on both sides and the sculpture is covered with foliage of ''Chaitya'' tree to commemorate the penance of Vasupujya. The temple also houses idols of Jain monk ''Kakkasuri'', ''Devachandrasuri'' and ''Yashodevsuri''. Hemachandrayacharya Jain Gyan Mandir is an ancient library built by

Hemachandra Hemachandra was a 12th century () Indian Jain saint, scholar, poet, mathematician, philosopher, yogi, grammarian, law theorist, historian, lexicographer, rhetorician, logician, and prosodist. Noted as a prodigy by his contemporaries, he gain ...

.This library is one of the most important Jain libraries in Gujarat and the collection includes several ancient palm-leaf manuscripts. The temple also houses a paper manuscript of ''Parshvanathacaritra''.

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* * {{Authority control 8th-century Jain temples Jain temples in Gujarat Patan district