Shatrunjaya
Trip Start
Aug 25, 2003
1
23
55
Trip End
Jul 18, 2004
Palitana,
India
Thursday, January 29, 2004
The morning after arriving we headed up the over 3,200 steps to the mountain top. We were not alone in this climb as these are "active" temples still used by worshipers, and in fact more temples are still being built although most are from 1500 to 1600 A.D. (most were originally from the 5'th century but many had to be rebuilt after Muslim raids). The outer wall of the temple complex made the whole place seem like a fort, but that is where that impression ended. The temples inside were incredible, all made of polished stone and intricately carved
Another View (this place was huge)
. To top the whole experience off, we were served snacks and tea after decending the mountain, a service provided to all who visit the temples.For those not famailir with Jainism, from a westerners perspective it seems very similar to Buddhism. The respect for life is held high - some Jains walk with a broom to sweep away bugs in front of them so they don't get stepped on. Being total outsiders we were a little confused at the first temples we saw as the Jain idol looked almost exactly like the Buddhist idol. It turns out that the similarities between Jainism and Buddhism go beyond that, but rather than make a huge ideological faux pas for all the WWW to read, I'll just leave it at that.
After feeling satisfied that we had seen our fill of Shatrunjaya (and not eager to climb and decend those steps again) we set off for Jaisalmer. Since Palitana is off the railway grid that meant sharing a bus full of Jain pilgrims to Ahmedabad. As it turns out, the people sitting next to Sarah and I were Indians living in Kentucky (U.S.A.) and had to drive up to Detroit to catch a flight to India. They informed us that there was a beautiful Jain temple in Detroit. We had no idea and even felt a little silly not knowing. So if anyone back home wants to see and example of a Jain temple up close, apparently there's one in Detroit.
