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Part III. Settlement in Halar
Raishi Shah went on pilgrimage to Shatrunjay tirth in 1660. On returning to Jamnagar he decided to build a temple. The temple was completed either in 1668 or 1672 and the image of Lord Shantinath was installed by Acharya Shri Kalyansuriji of Anchal gacch in 1675. Five hundredfifty more images were installed. The expenses totaled to three hundred thousand gold coins. He also built many more Jaina temples in Saurastra and Cutchh, a temple to Lord Krishna in Rajkot and many shrines including one to Hanumanji.
He was a great philanthropist and built fountains for drinking water, rest houses and dining halls for the convenience of travelers. During the famine of 1687 he distributed food free to needy people. All his life he did many beneficial things for the people.
Brothers Vardhman and Padamshi Shah: They were born in the village of Arikhana, Cutchh of Lalan gotra family. Their father's name was Amarshi. Vardhman, the elder, was born in V.S. 1606. Padamshi the youngest son was born in V.S. 1617. They had a middle brother Champshi.
There is a folk tale about how they became rich. One morning a monk came to their house and asked for alms. Both brothers with great respect fed the monk. The monk was very satisfied and left a gourd hanging on their doorframe. After some time the gourd fell on a copper vessel left on the floor under it. The gourd was filled with a magical potion (siddh ras). When the potion touched the vessel it turned into gold. Both the brothers were surprised to see this miracle. They took all the metal vessels they had and rubbed the potion on them. All of them turned into gold. They took the gold vessels to Bhadravati Nagari and sold them at the price of 100,000 gold coins. They settled down in Bhadravati and started a business and soon became very rich.
