Jain temple at Ranakpur
The Jain temple at Ranakpur in Rajasthan honours Adinath, the first Tirthankar. I read about it in Kiran Nagarkar's novel Cuckold and made up my mind to make it the first halt in my next trip to Rajasthan. Here is how he describes it. 'The temple was built during the golden age of architecture in Mewar. .. At the extreme corner of the building are round bulwarks as at any fort except these are much shorter. Ranged across the entire plinth are enclosure walls that are really a series of miniature temples housing subsidiary luminaries from the Jain pantheon. Four beautifully proportioned central gateways interrupt the shrines on all four sides. It is impossible to gauge how stupendously large and complex the temple is until you get to the very heart of the edifice. And yet, that too is a limited and partial view for one has not yet climbed to the first and then the second storey. Jain saviours in the panels stand or sit, stiff and erect, compellingly directing one's attention...