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Palitana is a religious Jain city, located in Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat.
The Palitana temples are considered the most sacred pilgrimage place by the Jain community. Millions and millions of Jain sadhu and muni come here to got salvation.
In Palitana, more than 900 Jain temples grace the top of Shatrunjaya hills.
To see them, you must climb over 3,000 steps from the base to the top of the hill. People say that temples have greater powers if you have to expend a great deal of effort to reach them.
For those who are unable to climb, DHOLIES (chairs, seats held by poles and ropes) are available. Porters and mules are also available to carry eldery people and luggage.
Jain pilgrims start the climb in the very morning, around 4 am, to reach the summit before sunrise, so we were the ones of a few fools going up in the hot sun on the midday in the teperture of 43 degrees.
It took us around 3 hours to complete the climb. On the way there were shelters built at every few hundred steps distance. You can find a drinking water there but for foreigners it is better to have own botles of water, because there is no shops on the way.
The main temple on top of the hill, is dedicated to lord Adinath (Rishabdeva) - the original lord. According to Jain beliefs, Rishabha was the first Tirthankar of the present age (Avasarpini). He became a Siddha (a liberated soul) which has destroyed all of his karma.
The Palitana temples are grouped in enclosures called tuks. Each enclosure contains temples, which may be major, or minor depending on the deity enshrined in the sanctum sanctorum. Typically, each major temple is built according to the tenets of medieval temple architecture, (with an entrance porch, hallway, assembly hall, sanctum sanctorum, and circumambulatory).
The smaller temples are simpler, sometimes with a small assembly hall outside the sanctum.
The Jain temples of Palitana were constructed in the north Indian style of temple architecture and Vastushastra (ancient principles of building).
As the Jain often walk barefoot to their temples and cover their mouths with a cloth to stop the inhalation of insects, their temples were built in groups, to make the pilgrimage easier. This also gave each temple an identity of its own despite being part of a cluster. Like the Jains who prefer the purity of white, their temples too are usually white, a combination of plaster and marble.
Nothing can match the vision of a hillside covered with the spires of hundreds of temples.....
The best time to visit is between November and March. The hills are closed during monsoon for all. To avoid rush of devotees, visit palitana during weekdays, unless it happens to fall on any of their auspicious dates. Eatables are not allowed on the top of the hills but at the bottom, there are many places to eat, so you can enjoy the famous food: Palitana Bhel, plates of tomatoes slices, goti soda and gulkand.
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