Dilwara Temples

The temples

Five temples make up the group. The Vimal Vasahi, dedicated to Rishabhanatha, was built in 1031 by Vimal Shah, a minister of the Chaulukya kingdom. The Luna Vasahi, dedicated to Neminatha, was built in 1230 by the brothers Vastupala and Tejapala, ministers to the Vaghela rulers of Gujarat. Three smaller temples were added later.

The plan is conventional for western Indian Jain architecture: a shrine, a closed hall, an open pillared hall, and a surrounding corridor of subsidiary cells each holding a tirthankara image.

The carving

What distinguishes Dilwara is the interior. The white marble of the ceilings, pillars and door frames is carved to a depth and fineness that leaves the stone in places almost translucent, worked into lotus pendants, concentric bands of dancers and musicians, and narrative panels from Jain tradition. The great pendant of the Luna Vasahi rangamandapa is the most-reproduced example.

The exteriors, by deliberate contrast, are plain. Accounts of the patronage describe payment by the weight of marble dust removed, which if not literally true reflects the economics of work of this order.

Context

The temples are a monument to the position Jain merchant and ministerial families held in medieval Gujarat and Rajasthan, where wealth restrained by the vow of non-possession was directed into building. That the patrons were ministers of Hindu dynasties, building Jain temples on a Shaiva pilgrimage mountain, indicates the practical accommodation of the period.