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A Ten Year Story Collection, Creation and Research
Dr. Rajnikant Shah
I would like to take you back in time, to the end of the 20th century. It was then that Shri Sangh first granted me permission to construct our new temple.
By the end of the year, plans were drawn, submitted, and approved. The final plans were approved by the city in November of 2000 and the construction was completed in the year 2005. The building was awarded the "Best Religious Building" by the Queens Chamber of Commerce, New York,
Now let's go to the main temple on 2nd floor. The area is small but many things needed to be accommodated. We wanted to accommodate Shri Chovisi around Bhamati area, however, due to the limitation of space, I could not do it. Then something unusual happened, I saw a couple of statues carved in gemstones in our office, one of which was a Tirthankar idol carved in Amethyst. This inspired me to carve 24 idols of Shri Tirthankars in gemstones and accommodate them in the Bhamati area. Thus the concept of Ratna Mandir was evolved. Our building architect, Ms. Rashmi Sen, helped a great deal with the design, drawing, and execution of the plans.
Then I happened to visit a temple in Jaipur, my hometown as well as the color stone business center, to learn about temple construction, check the designs, idols and Pat details. While walking around the temple, I saw a Pat of the Ashtapad. I had heard a little about Shri Ashtapad that it was made of Crystal (Sfatik) and Gemstones (Ratnas). I began to wonder if I could use these idols and recreate a replica of Ashtapad. This was the second turning point, when building Shri Ashtapad became my dream. Looking back, it was easy to dream but twice as hard to accomplish. I had no idea on where to start this project. I spoke with my cousin, Naveen Shah, who introduced me to Shri Dineshji Mohnot and | asked him to help us to make a sample replica of the Ashtapad, which he enthusiastically agreed to.
We all worked together, designing the Ashtapad on a piece of wood and then on serpentine. It took us a couple of months to finalize the concept. By April 2001 the 1st model of Ashtapad Tirth was ready. The 1st Model was 2 Dimensional, and 1' x 1' in size.
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