Jhinjuwada and Dabhoi: Examples of the very best of Hindu architecture

The Solanki era of Gujarat's history, often described as the 'golden era', was established in 942 AD. Jhinjuwada, located 130 km north-west of Ahmedabad, and Dabhoi, about 30 km south-east of Vadodara, are two fort towns that were built around the 12th-13th century AD.

Folktales narrate stories of the famous Solanki  and Vaghela kings who built them.

The fort and gates of Jhinjuwada and Dabhoi are grand examples of the great Hindu architectural tradition that existed prior to the arrival of the Muslims in India as a ruling power. The fort of Jhinjuwada was built in the 12th century AD. References to the minister of the Solanki kings, Uda Mantri, are written on the Jhinjuwada fort walls.

It may be recalled here that the temple architecture had already achieved stupendous heights in India, centuries before Jhinjuwada. With the beginning of the Solanki era, a renaissance had begun in the architecture of Gujarat. Torans (an entrance arch forming a gateway peculiar to the Solanki architecture) of Vadnagar (in the north of Gujarat) and the Rudramahalaya temple at Sidhpur (again, in northern Gujarat) are two fine examples among many masterpieces of Solanki architecture.

Ananda K Coomarswamy, a noted scholar of Indian art, has written: "Probably the best remains of any medieval Indian city are those of Dabhoi, twenty miles south-east of Baroda (Vadodara), and Jhinjuwada in the northern angle of Kathiawad. Both these cities were provided with powerful defensive walls in the time of the powerful Solanki kings of Gujarat, probably about 1100 AD.

They were practically destroyed by the Muslims in the thirteenth century, but at least two of the great gates and parts of the massive walls are still preserved. The Jhinjuwada walls are decorated with three string courses, interrupted at intervals by sculptured panels with figures of gods. The gates of Dabhoi are more elaborate. Like all Hindu gates, the arch is formed of overlapping (corbelled) horizontal brackets, covered by a massive lintel. These gates and those of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh are the finest now, among those standing in India."

The madapol gate is the best preserved among the gates of Jhinjuwada.

The samara step-well, Sinhsar Lake and Rajeshwari temple (temple of the Goddess done in what is called marugurjar style) make Jhinjuwada a veritable depository of Solanki architectural heritage.

Dabhoi, even in its present condition of possessing just fragments of what must have been a monumental town, displays in these architectural fragments the virtuosity of Solanki artists and sculptors. Sir James Forbes, who had stayed in Dabhoi for three years, had noted, "Whatever few gates that remain, give a glimpse of a great past here."

Dabhoi, the ancient Darbhavati, mesmerizes the visitor with its sculptured beauty. This thousand year-old Hira gate alone, adorned with beautiful sculptures of gods, goddesses, heavenly couples, birds and animals, can represent the Hindu architecture on the world stage.