Ranakpur, Udaipur

	Ranakpur, Udaipur
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The complex of Jain temples at Ranakpur, 60km north of Udaipur, is the largest of its kind in India, boasting marble work on a par with that of the more famous Dilwara shrines at Mount Abu and Shatrunjaya near Palitana in Gujarat. Unlike the latter two hilltop sites, however, this sacred spot is hidden at the base of a wooded valley. The land, deep in the Aravalli range, was originally gifted to the Jain community in the fifteenth-century by Rana Kumbha, the Hindu ruler of Mewar.

Ranakapur's isolated position has kept it well off the foreign tourist trail, but if you're working your way between Jodhpur and Udaipur on country buses, this is an excellent place to break the journey. Regular buses connect the village with Udaipur, and the main Ajmer-Mount Abu highway to the north, and you can hike here through a tract of protected forest from Kumbalgarh. Catering for the hundreds of Jain pilgrims who pour through daily, a small crop of hotels also provides a choice of accommodation.

The main temple (10am-5pm) is dedicated to the first tirthankara Adinath , whose four-faced image is enshrined in its central sanctuary.

Built in 1439 on land donated to the Jains by Rana Kumbha, the temple is two or three stores high in parts, and its roof, topped with five large shikharas , undulates with tiny spires that crown the small shrines to Jain saints lining the temple walls. commanded by the solar deities

Within, 29 halls, some octagonal and many more than one storey high, are dissected by 1444 pillars, each sculpted with unique designs. The carving on the walls, columns and the domed ceilings is superb. Friezes depicting the life of the tirthankara are etched into the walls, while musicians and dancers have been modeled out of brackets between the pillars and the ceiling.

Two smaller temples dedicated to Parshvanath and Neminath nestle among the trees close by; the sculptures within are of a similarly high standard. Also in the compound is a contemporary Hindu temple dedicated to Surya , inside which carvings depict racing chariots