Jain Journal 1989 07

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 24

Gleanings
THE LORD OF THE DESERT
Salman Rashid
The first time I saw it, five years ago, it had just received a fresh coat of whitewash and stood a brilliant white against the gray-brown repetend of sand dunes in the great Thar Desert of south-eastern Sind, about 25 kms north of Virawah. This time the whitewash was gone and, from a distance, the temple was barely discernible amid the sea of dunes. My heart skipped a beat until I spotted it.
As I got off the 'kekra' (World War II vintage trucks retrofitted with diesel engines to serve as buses in the desert) and made my way to the temple, I was joined by the old keeper. He had not changed much in five years, only his gray mountache was now dyed black. This time he again told me that the temple was consecrated almost 800 years ago, antedating the actual date of building by mere 200 years as against the exaggeration of thousands of years common to the illiterate of my country. Once again he insisted that it was a Hindu temple rather than Jain, this time I refrained from arguing the point.
The temple, lying about a kilometre outside the Gori village, is aligned in a north-south direction and its entrance is afforded from the square portico at the northern end. At the southern end is the truncated stub of the beautifully ornate spire that characterises all Jain temples. It fell victim to the devastating earthquake of October 1898 and lack of resources prevented its rebuilding, a boon, perhaps, for modern workship would have raised no more than an eyesore.
The domed ceiling of the portico is adorned with beautiful, though slightly fading, paintings of some mythical pageantry of the past; there are eqestrian processions, stately women in royal coaches and elegant palanquins and bevies of dark-skinned beauties in flowing Rajasthani robes. My escort knew nothing of their significance and told me they depict past kings and queens.
A narrow door with jambs, made of very fine white marble, leads into the inner chamber where 20 pillars of similar stone support the domed roof. In the wings are 26 tiny cubicles 13 in each, where devotees