heritage/girnar.jpg · 1200×800Neminatha, the 22nd Tirthankara and a cousin of Krishna, turned back from his own wedding when he heard the cries of the animals penned for the feast, and came to this mountain. Jain tradition places three of his five kalyanakas here: his renunciation, his kevalgyan or omniscience, and his nirvana. For that the hill, called Ujjayanta or Raivataka in old texts, is revered as a siddhakshetra. Rajimati, the bride he left, is remembered here too.
The central Neminatha temple was rebuilt in dark granite by Sajjana, governor of Saurashtra under the Chaulukya king Jayasimha Siddharaja, in 1129 CE; its closed hall rests on 22 granite columns, and Mandalika I covered the shrine with gold plates in 1364. Near it stand the temple finished by the ministers Vastupala and Tejpala in 1232, the Samprati Raja temple of 1453, and the old shrine of Ambika.
About 16 temples stand along a ledge on the western face of the first summit. Most belong to the Svetambara tradition, with one or two Digambara shrines, and both traditions revere the footprints on the fifth peak. Pilgrims climb some 4,000 steps from Bhavnath taleti to reach the Jain temples, and close to 10,000 to the Dattatreya peak beyond. A ropeway 2.3 km long, opened in October 2020, now carries visitors to the Ambaji peak.
