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TEMPLES OF DELWÄDÄ
As the sons grew older, their mother brought them back to the capital city of Pätan so that they could pursue a career of their choice. In line with their interests, Nedh joined the royal court and Vimal joined the army. Both of them quickly began to rise in the ranks and became known for their outstanding capabilities. Since Vimal in particular was handsome and brave, he impressed a multimillionaire of Patan, who had a beautiful daughter named Shridevi. He thought Vimal would be a perfect husband for his daughter. Vimal agreed, and Shridevi and Vimal got married. Luck continued to favor both the brothers. During the reign of King Bhimdev, who came to the throne in 1021 A.D., Nedh became the chancellor and Vimal secured the position of commander. Vimal was fortunate to get a beautiful, loving wife and a high ranking military position at a relatively young age. Moreover, because of his amicable nature, he soon won the hearts of everyone and came to be known as Vimalshä. Some people at the court could not bear the good fortune of Vimalshä. They were jealous and began to look for
his drawbacks. They noticed that Vimalshä would not bow to anyone, not even the King, before offering obeisance to the omniscient Jain Tirthankars. Thereupon, they started telling King Bhimdev that Vimalshä was arrogant due to his position and was not even willing to bow to the King. They said his ambition knew no bounds and he might even try to acquire the throne. Unfortunately, Bhimdev started to believe those courtiers and began to look at Vimalshä with suspicion. When Vimalshä learned of the disaffection of King Bhimdev, he decided to leave Pätan. Accordingly, he went to mount Abu (which was known as Chandravati at that time) with his followers. There he learned that Dhandhuk, the chief of Chandrävati, was aspiring to become independent from the sovereign King Bhimdev. Vimalshä attacked him with the force at his command. Dhandhuk could not fight him and fled. Vimalshä thus occupied Chandrävati. He had no ambition to become the king and took possession of Chandrävati in the name of King Bhimdev and considered himself the governor of the place. Vimalshä was now happily passing his days at Chandrävati with his wife. Shridevi was a very affectionate lady and made him happy in every respect. They had no children. Being religious
minded, however, the couple considered it to be the Delwädä Jain temples, Mt. Abu
consequence of their unwholesome karma. Once, they happened to meet Dharmaghosh-suri, who was the well-known Jain Acharya of that time. Vimalshä
regularly listened to his sermons, which made him even more religiously oriented. As he remembered his involvement in past wars, he felt very sorry for the violence and sins he had committed. He sincerely repented for it. In view of his genuine repentance, the Acharya asked him to construct a temple at Chandrävati and make it a center of pilgrimage to help atone for the violence caused during the wars. Vimalshä was pleased to hear this suggestion and made up his mind to construct a grand temple. He was also a devotee of Ambikä Devi, the goddess in service of Tirthankar Neminäth. He decided to invoke her in order to get her blessings. The goddess was pleased with the earnestness of his worship and asked him what he wanted. He asked for a son and the capability to construct a monumental temple at Chandrävati. However, the goddess asked him to select one of the two. Vimalshä opted for the temple. Goddess Ambikä granted his wish.
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