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Chapter V
The Temple at Ranakpur An Architectural Splendour
The magnificent temple at Ranakpur in Mewar is dedicated to
the first tirthankara Adinatha, or Ádisvara or Yugadiśvara. The temple is designed as caumukha - with four faces and is indisputably the finest example of its kind. Situated in a valley, this complex stands out among a number of Jain shrines at a place considered to be one of the five sacred sites in Mewar. An inscription on a pillar close to the entrance of its main shrine records that in 1439 A.D. Deepaka, an architect, constructed the building to the order of Dharanka, a devoted Jain. From a reference in the inscription to Rana Kumbha (1438-68), the great king of Chitor, it appears that the Rana was the source of inspiration and support for the erection of this grand temple. Spread over an area of 3,716 square metres, comprising twenty-nine halls and four hundred and twenty pillars of which no two are alike—the caumukha temple is indeed a monumental work.
The Adiévara temple, Ranakpur.
