Ranakpur

The Chaumukha temple

The main temple, dedicated to Rishabhanatha, was begun in the fifteenth century under the patronage of a merchant named Dharanashah with the support of Rana Kumbha of Mewar, whose name the site carries. Its plan is chaumukha, four-faced: the central shrine holds four images of the tirthankara facing the cardinal directions, and the building opens on all four sides accordingly.

It stands on a high plinth, rises through a series of domed halls, and is entirely of light marble. The four-way symmetry, unusual at this scale, gives the interior its character — long axial views in every direction, interrupted and framed by columns.

The columns

The temple is carried on a very large number of columns, conventionally given as 1,444, and no two are carved alike. They support domed ceilings at several heights, with the ceiling reliefs and the bracket figures forming the richest part of the decoration.

The effect, unlike the concentrated intensity of Dilwara, is spatial: the carving is dense but the experience is of depth and repetition rather than of a single virtuoso surface.

Setting and status

Ranakpur lies in a wooded valley in the Aravalli range, some distance from any town, which is characteristic of Jain temple siting in the region. It remains an active place of worship as well as the best-known Jain building in Rajasthan after Dilwara.