Temples that are Amdavad’s architectural jewels

The fabled Solanki-Vaghela city of Somnath in Saurashtra in Gujarat attracted not only thousands of visitors each day, but also iconoclasts like Mahmud Ghazni. Ghazni's main reason for attacking Somnath was, of course, the city's proverbial wealth.

The destruction of Somnath has been recorded by the eleventh century Arab writer, Al Kazwini: "Somnat — a celebrated city of India, situated on the shore of the sea and washed by its waves.

Among the wonders of that place was the temple in which was placed the idol called Somnat. This idol was in the middle of the temple without anything to support it from below, or to suspend it from above. The Hindus held it in the highest honour, and whoever beheld it floating in the air was struck with amazement…

There were many idols of gold and silver, and vessels set with jewels, all of which had been sent by the greatest personages in India. The value of things found in the temple exceeded twenty thousand dinars. When the king asked his companions as to what they had to say about the marvel of the floating idol, several maintained that it was held by some hidden support. The king directed a person to go and feel around, above and below the idol with a spear, which he did, but met with no obstacle. Permission was obtained from the sultan to settle the point by removing some of the stones from the top of the canopy. When two stones were removed from the summit, the idol swerved to one side. When more were taken away, it inclined still further, until it finally rested on the ground."

The Solanki-Vaghela period of the history of Gujarat is considered the golden period, and looking at the built-heritage of the period that survives today, one cannot but agree with its description as being 'golden'. Temple architecture had achieved stupendous aesthetic heights and technological virtuosity during the Solanki-Vaghela building activities in Gujarat. The Hutheesing Jain temple of Ahmedabad is a reminder of this architectural temple tradition.

The Hutheesing temple is located outside the Delhi Gate (Dilli Darwaza) in Ahmedabad. It was Sheth Hutheesing who had initiated the plan of building the temple. But because of his demise, his wife Harkunvar Shethani had it completed in 1847, at a cost of Rs12 lakh. Dedicated to the 15th tirthankar, the temple's architect was Premchand Salat. Two inscriptions, one in Sanskrit and the other in Gujarati, attest the date of the completion of the temple.

The temple, facing the western direction, is a nirandhara-prasada (a temple without an ambulatory passage) type of temple. It consists of a sanctum and a closed hall with porches, a vestibule and a sabhamandapa (a hall) for dances and musical performances. The whole structure of the temple stands on a platform, which is surrounded by the courtyard of a colonnaded cloister containing fifty-two shrines. The height of the temple is nearly 52.5 metres. There is a marvellous kirtistambh (tower of victory) right in the temple compound.

The entire temple is a continuous procession of carved pillars, ceilings, balconies, passages and halls. There are literally gardens of sculptures of gods, goddesses, yakshas, flowers, celestial minstrels, brackets, capitals, gorgon heads, female musicians, toranas and niches. It may be noted here that there are more than one hundred Jain temples in the old city area of Ahmedabad. Some of these temples are more than four hundred years old.

The Jain temples of Vaghan Pol and Shantinath Pol are the most fascinating among these, in that they are built underground. These Jain temples of Ahmedabad, and especially the Hutheesing temple, are an architectural ornament of Gujarat and a lovely echo of the great building tradition of medieval Gujarat.

— The city-based writer specialises in writing on architecture