________________
101 ]
Pali:
Pali or Pallika has long been a centre of business. It is believed that the merchant clan of Paliwals originated from this place. Yasobhadra Suri, who was very influential in Godawar and Mewar, received his Acharyapada at this town in V.E. 965(908 A.D.). The Navalakha temple here is old, and contains a Garbh-Griha, Goodh-Mandap, Ranga-Mandap, Devakulikas and other usual structural sections. Several inscriptions have been discovered here, which throw light on the history of this temple. Thus the Devakulikas were added to the temple in the 11th and 12th centuries A.D. as is recorded in the inscriptions27 of V.E. 1144, 1151, 1178 and 1201. The last inscription belongs to the family of Mahamatya Anand and Prithvipal of Patan, who were descendants of Vimal Shah. It seems that when Kumarpal marched against Arnoraj of Ajmer in V.E. 1201 (1144 A.D.) he passed through Pali. An interesting reference to Kumarpal's second invasion on Pali is available in the colophon of M.S. Panchashaka-Prakarana-Vriti28 (Jaisalmer Bhandar) dated V.E. 1207, which records that when the enemy forces reached Pali, Sthirchandra, the scribe left his work incomplete and ran away to Ajmer. An inscription of Kumarpal dated V.E. 1209 is to be seen in a Shiv temple here. It seems that during the 17th century A.D., some part of the Jain temple was demolished by Muslim29 forces. It was then almost completely renovated in V.E. 1688 (1631 A.D.) by a Shrimal family of Shah Dungar and Bhakhar who spent Rs. Five thousand for this purpose. Several icons were installed by other Shresthis too. The Mulanayak icon was also set up at this time. M.A. Dhaky30 believes that the Garbh-Griha of this temple is quite old. It is similar to that of the
27. Jin Vijay No. 381, 382, 383, 396, 397.
28. Jayant Vijay-A Catalogue of Sanskrit and Prakrit ManuscriptsJaisalmer collections (Ahmedabad) p. 73
29. Jin Vijay No, 398.
30. M. A. Dhaky's paper-The Mahavir Jayanti Svarna-Mahotsava Volume (Bombay) Vol. I, p. 312.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
