Palitana and the Ninety-Nine Yatra

The hill of Shatrunjaya near the town of Palitana in the region of Gujarat is among the holiest of all Jain pilgrimage sites, a sacred mountain crowned by a vast complex of temples that has drawn devotees for many centuries. Rising above the surrounding plain, the hill is covered near its summit with hundreds of temples and shrines, forming what is often described as a temple-city, and it is revered as a place sanctified by the presence of countless souls who attained liberation upon it across the ages. Among the many acts of devotion associated with the site, the most demanding and celebrated is the ninety-nine-fold pilgrimage, the Navvanu Yatra.

Shatrunjaya is associated above all with Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara, who according to tradition visited the hill and preached there, and it is held that vast numbers of ascetics attained moksha upon its slopes. This sanctity draws pilgrims throughout the pilgrimage season, which opens after the close of the monsoon retreat, since the temple complex is not kept for overnight stay during the rains. The ascent of the hill, made by climbing many thousands of stone steps to the summit, is itself understood as an act of devotion and purification, a physical discipline that mirrors the soul's upward striving toward liberation.

The ninety-nine-fold pilgrimage is an intensive observance undertaken by the most devout, in which the pilgrim ascends the hill and completes the circuit of its temples ninety-nine times. This great undertaking is spread across a period of many weeks, during which the pilgrim makes the arduous climb repeatedly, often more than once in a single day, accumulating the prescribed number of ascents. Throughout the observance the pilgrim maintains strict discipline, keeping simple food or fasting, observing restraint in conduct, sleeping simply, and devoting the whole period to worship, the recitation of sacred formulas, and reflection.

The observance demands great physical endurance and spiritual resolve, and those who complete it are honoured within the community for their devotion. The repeated ascent of the sacred hill, made day after day with fasting and worship, becomes a sustained act of purification, and the pilgrim who completes the full ninety-nine circuits is understood to have performed one of the most meritorious of pilgrimages. The observance is traditionally undertaken during the cooler months of the pilgrimage season, when the long climbs may be made without the harshness of the heat.

The pilgrimage to Palitana holds a central place in the devotional life of the Jain community, and the site is regarded as a place where the ordinary distance between the worshipper and the sacred is diminished. Pilgrims travel from across the community and beyond to make the ascent, whether once or many times, and the reopening of the pilgrimage season after the rains is greeted with anticipation. The temples of the hill, built and rebuilt by the devotion of generations, stand as a monument to the faith of the community and to its reverence for the Tirthankaras.

The ninety-nine-fold pilgrimage thus represents the summit of a devotional practice deeply rooted in the Jain tradition, the honouring of sacred geography through physical pilgrimage and disciplined observance. In climbing the holy hill again and again with fasting, worship and reflection, the pilgrim enacts the striving of the soul toward its liberation and draws close to a place hallowed by the memory of countless liberated souls. In its recurring observance across the pilgrimage seasons, the tradition of Palitana and the ninety-nine Yatra keeps alive the community's ancient bond with its holiest of hills.