Palitana and the City of Temples on Shatrunjaya

Few sights in the religious landscape of India compare with the temple city crowning the Shatrunjaya hills above Palitana in the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat. Along the twin ridges rise hundreds of intricately carved marble temples, packed together in nine walled enclosures called tuks, forming what pilgrims describe as a celestial city built for the gods rather than for ordinary human habitation. No one lives permanently on the summit; by tradition even priests descend each evening, leaving the mountain to silence and sanctity through the night.

Shatrunjaya is the holiest tirtha of the Shvetambara tradition. It is associated above all with Adinatha, also called Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara, who according to tradition delivered his first sermon here and whose principal temple crowns the hill. Countless sages and ascetics are believed to have attained liberation on these slopes, and the mountain is venerated as an eternal place of pilgrimage that has been sanctified across successive cosmic ages.

The climb to the summit involves ascending roughly 3,500 stone steps, a journey of about 3.5 kilometres that devout pilgrims complete barefoot, often beginning in the cool darkness before dawn. The ascent is itself an act of penance and devotion, and the most fervent believers undertake the demanding chha-gau or larger circuits multiple times. Dolis, seats carried by bearers, are available for the elderly or infirm, but many consider walking every step essential to the merit of the pilgrimage.

The temples themselves span centuries of construction and reconstruction, with much of the present ensemble dating from the sixteenth century onward, though the tradition of building here is far older. Successive invasions and the passage of time destroyed earlier structures, and the wealthy Jain merchant community rebuilt them repeatedly in gleaming white marble. The workmanship is extraordinary, with domes, spires, pillared halls and finely carved figures of Tirthankaras seated in serene meditation. The grandest is the temple of Adinatha, restored several times, its inner sanctum housing the principal image that is the focus of worship.

Palitana town at the foot of the hill has come to be known as one of the most vegetarian places on earth, with local ordinances restricting the sale of meat and eggs out of respect for the sanctity of the pilgrimage. The town is filled with dharamshalas, bhojanshalas and pilgrim rest houses, and swells enormously during festival seasons.

The most important pilgrimage day is Kartik Purnima, the full moon marking the end of the four-month monsoon retreat, when tens of thousands of pilgrims arrive to make the ascent as the season for climbing formally reopens. Fagun Sud Teras is another major occasion drawing vast crowds who undertake the arduous multiple circuits of the hills.

Palitana is reached most easily from Bhavnagar, about 50 kilometres away, which has rail and air connections, with onward road transport to the base of the hill. The climbing season runs roughly from Kartik Purnima to the onset of the monsoon, and pilgrims are asked to complete their darshan and descend before nightfall, honouring the ancient rule that the sacred summit belongs to the divine alone once the sun has set.