The largest Jain temple of India is Adinath Jain Temple located in Ranakpur, near Udaipur, Rajasthan. Built in the 15th century, it is also one of the most beautiful Jain temples. The most remarkable aspect of this temple is the wonderful play of shadow and light on nearly 1,500 pillars. The beauty of the pillars is that each pillar is different from the other in design. The color of the pillars change from gold to pale blue as the sun shifts through the day.

Shri Shatrunjay Tirth is located in Palitana, approximately 280 kilometers from Ahmedabad in Gujarat. This tirth (pilgrimage) is known as the eternal tirth. It has a nearly 216 centimeters high, white-colored and brightly shining idol of Bhagwan Adishvar with a serene and peaceful face and is in the Padmasana (a yoga posture). The Temple has been renovated 16 times. The Temple is a climb of 3950 steps up the Shetrunjaya Hill. Beware, it is no mean feat. Climbing a 3.5 kilometer shadeless stretch in the heat needs some strength; you can neither eat food nor carry it on the way. The descent must begin before evening. There are hundreds of temples on the hill. Some of the temples were built around the 11th century. It must have taken some effort by the non-violent Jain community to perform the mammoth task of clearing the crest of the hill and levelling and fortifying most of the temples, and it took a long time. Till today it is a puzzle as to how the large marble stones were carried to the top when there were no modern machines available. The summit is one of the most revered. Such is the sanctity that climbing the top of the mountain at least once in his lifetime is every Jain’s dream.

Dilwara temple is located in Mount Abut, Rajasthan. The world famous marble temples are a group of 5 temples. They have an unbelievable design and accuracy of workmanship. Vimal Vasahi (Shri Adinathji temple), Luna Vasahi (Shri Neminathji temple), Pithalhar (Shri Rishabh Deoji temple), Khartar Vasahi (Shri Parshavnathji temple) and Mahavir Swami (Shri Mahavir Swamiji temple). The shrines were constructed in various centuries. Shri Adinathji and Shri Neminathji temple are built wholly from white marble. Life stories of various Jain Thirthankaras and scenes from Jain and Hindu mythology are depicted in the design of the temples and no design is repeated – a proof of the brilliance of the architects.

Pawapuri Tirth is situated 90 kilometers from Patna in Bihar. It is believed that it is the ultimate and all sin ends here for a devout Jain. Lord Mahavir, the last of the Tirthankars and founder of Jainism, breathed his last at this place and was cremated here around 500 B.C.

Jain temples in Jamnagar are located in the state of Gujarat. Vardhaman Shah’s temple, Raisi Shah’s Temple, Sheth’s Temple and Vasupujya Swami’s Temple are the various Jain temples in Jamnagar. Besides these, there are sixteen other temples.

Shri Mahudi Tirth is located in Mehsana district of Gujarat. It has a 53 centimeters high, white-colored idol of Bhagwan Padmaprabh in the Padmasana (a yoga posture). It is believed that this place is 2000 years old. An ancient idol of Ghantakarna Mahavir was installed in the temple here by the Acharyadev Buddhisagarsurisvarji. The idol of Ghantakarna Mahvir is very miraculous. In his previous birth, Ghantakarna Mahavirdev was a Kshatriya king named Tungabhadra. He protected religious people, caste and virtuous women and unmarried girls from robbers. He used a bow and arrows. His idol, therefore, has a bow and an arrow.

Shri Samet Shikhar Tirth is located in Giridih district of Bihar. It has a 92 centimeters high, black-colored idol of Bhagwan Parshvanath (Bhagwan Shamaliya Parshvanath) in the Padmasana posture. It is at 4450 feet above see level. It was known also as Samet Shail, Sametachal and many others. Many Thirthankaras attained salvation here. Since this is a land of penance and salvation of many Thirthankaras, each and every particle of this land is holy. Even the mere touch purifies the human birth and a pilgrimage removes all paap (sin) and grants punya (religious merit).

Rikhabdev Jain Temple is situated 40 kilometers from Udaipur in Rajasthan. It is dedicated to Lord Rikhabdev (aka Kesariyaji), the first Jain Tirthankara. It belongs to the Svetambara sect of the Jainism. A large procession of the Lord proceeds to the temple of Pagliyaji (2 kilometers away) in the month of March/April on the birthday of Lord Rikhabdev. It is also called Kalaji (black) by the tribal people due to the black color of the idol. It is believed that Ravana had carried this idol to Ceylon (presently Sri Lanka) but Lord Rama brought it back after his conquest. Such is the influence of the idol that pilgrims, whose wishes have been granted, smear the idol with kesar (saffron) often equal to the weight of the child born.

Shri Mahavirji Jain Temple is 110 kilometers from Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan. It is one of the holiest Jain temples in Rajasthan, situated on the banks of the river Gambhir, built in honor of Lord Mahavir – the 24th Jain saint. This temple is a combination of ancient and modern Jain architecture unlike other ancient Jain temples, which are highly ornamented and richly carved. It is constructed with white sandstone and the spires are visible from all around. Like most Jain temples, this one too is a complex of smaller temples. The biggest draw is the huge statue of Shantinath, which stands 32 feet high. The well-illuminated temple is a splendid sight to view at night. Nakoda Jain Temple is 135 km from Barmer in Rajasthan. The town of Nakoda was built in the 12th or the 13th century on the slope of a hill called Nagar Ki Bhakarian. The biggest and most impressive of the Jain Temples in the town is the Parshvanath Temple. The town of Nakoda has the only other temple of Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe according to the Hindu mythology, besides the one at Pushkar, also in Rajasthan.

Deogarh Jain Temple is 123 km from Jhansi in Deogarh, Madhya Pradesh. Dashavatar Temple is a fine Lord Vishnu temple at Deogarh. It has a terraced basement above the high temple plinth and is adorned with a continuous row of sculptured panels.

Shri Rishbhanchal Tirth is at Vardhmanpuram in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. It has a 4.5 foot high, white-colored idol of Bhagwan Rishbhnathji in Padmasana posture. It is a large temple and is popular as a center of meditation, yoga and worship. The foundation stone of this temple was laid down by The President of India in 1991. The name of Rishbhanchal is related to Lord Rishabhdevji, the first Tirthankar of Jainism.

Shitalnath Jain Temple is in Calcutta, West Bengal. It was built in 1867. It is dedicated to Sri Shitalnath, whose name literally means the “lord and protector of aquatics”.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Tourism

Walker was very friendly.

His long and curly hair resembled that of a Hindu priest.

He was strange looking among the other Germans, especially the German Praktikum (Internship) students.

He was a good conversationalist, and though he was not fluent in English, he managed to express himself excellently.

He always asked me after every word whether his pronunciation was correct, because the same word in English and German have different sounds.

He told me in the middle of our conversation that the Germans in the northern part of the Germany are very intelligent because the northern land is a so flat everywhere and you could see the horizon everywhere, which induces the people to imagine more and become naturally more intelligent.

But he quipped receding from his earlier stand that the people surrounded by the Alps and the surrounding valley regions in Bavaria too could go to the mountaintops and get a wider vision and they too could become more intelligent.

He had ready answers for both of his original statements.

I didn’t know whether it’s true or not, but in my own experience and by my observations, the people in the northern part of the Indian Ocean’s Island – Paradise too were usually considered as intelligent people.

I wondered because of these factors, whether others too considered them as intelligent.

The flat land everywhere with Palmyra trees in the vicinity might have promoted the intelligence of the people in the Northern flat land too if the Walker was right in his argument.

Walker and his friend who came with the table tennis team from Germany invited me to the beach where the team was playing volleyball.

We were seated near the playing field and watching the marvelous finesse of these players.

The team has come to celebrate the 2006 New Year celebration in Sri Lanka from Germany and a happy team of many who are in their late sixties to the teens, with a mixture of men and women.

There is a girl in her late teens, who attracted me a lot as she was directing her staring eyes to everything in the vicinity around her, and making a deep study of everyone and everything.

Two other young ladies and a young girl with an elderly person in his late sixties were playing so marvelously and enthusiastically in the playing ground adjoining the beach near the Indian Ocean.

The twilight has started to turn into complete darkness everywhere. All who played volleyball went towards the sea for a dip after having the long hours of hectic play.

The sea was a little calm and quiet and they went a few meters away from the beach and now we couldn’t see them as the beech has a steep end towards the sea – level from our sandy beach location.

If we wanted to have a look at them we would have to standup, for they may go further towards the deep-sea area.

They were there in the sea for nearly half an hour and returned back to the beach.

The young girl was coming towards us as her towel was placed near us.

Her slim body silhouetted against the background of deep reddish dark sky, evoked the image more or less of an Angel coming towards us.

Her smiling face while she was bending to take her towel was charming adding more to her beauty.

She gazed at me with a smile, as I was the only Asian among the Germans in the area.

It would have aroused her curiosity as to why I was so attached to the Germans.

She became familiar to me when we were having our dinner at the beach-end restaurant of the Aquarius Sports Resort Hotel as we were sitting at adjoining tables.

After the dinner, at her table, those who came from Germany with her started to celebrate the New Year fun – game.

They started to play some innovative game, which I haven’t come across before or heard about.

They were rolling a dice and then the winner in the rotation could select what he wanted from a covered pool of things.

They had collected those valuables in Germany and brought them all the way from Germany to hold a celebration in Sri Lanka.

While there were shouting and clapping in the course of the game, she used to look at me often to see whether I was watching the game and enjoying it or drawing my attention towards them.

I gazed with fascination at the stars in the dark sky over the Indian Ocean through the wide window-less side – wall of the restaurant and then turned my attention towards the happy Germans’ fun and fantasy in Asia.

The fascination of being at one with two worlds was an unforgettable experience in my life.

Time passed quickly with other fascinating and exciting German and local songs in the discotheque.

Rajkumar Kanagasingam is author of a fascinating book on German memories in Asia and you can explore more about the book and the author at AGSEP

With the romantic hues of pink all round you, the romantic cities of India never fails to satisfy all your touristic senses. It is no wonder then that India has fast become one of the most popular places on earth in which to tie the knot? Yes, more and more couples are choosing to get married Maharajah-style at one of the opulent palaces in a style reminiscent of the British Raj. For more information on wedding & holiday packages to Jaipur, check out “www.ticketstoindia.co.uk” for great deals on air fares and discounted hotel rates. Do not even try and book a hotel in Jaipur directly yourself unless you have just won the lottery! Prices are sky high and it is only through a specialist tour operator that you can be assured of excellent quality combined with low prices.

Located just a short drive from the capital city, New Delhi and close to Agra (home to the Taj Mahal), the royal city of Jaipur (also known as ‘The Pink City’ due to the predominant colour of its buildings), is well established as one of the most romantic places on earth to get married. From the rich history of its palaces to the gorgeous landscaped gardens of the luxury hotels to the serenity of the floating palace on Ramgarh Lakeeverywhere you look there is pinkthe colour of romance.

Jaipur is the throbbing, vibrant capital city of the colourful state of Rajasthan where the regal ambience of yesteryear is still felt throughout the city’s numerous carved arches and once-bejewelled fortress walls. Enter this mystical city through a narrow, cobbled street where street vendors selling everything from sweetmeats to silver trinkets and leather slippers call out to passing trade. Pass the huge hill on the right with its stunning royal residence where decorated elephants obediently transport delighted tourists to the top for its amazing vistas of the city spread out below. Follow the winding road until you begin to see the glittering lights of the city’s numerous palaces begin to emerge on the left hand side across the glistening waters of the Ramgarh Lake. Stop to take pictures or simply gaze in stunned silence at the beauty of the floating palace of Ramgarh – perfectly illuminated by golden lights strategically placed on all four corners of the palace.

And then comes the main citysurprisingly wide, clean roads with some of the most well known brand names dotted on each sidefrom the newly opened Hilton Trident to the Sheraton and Le Meridienyou will find a massive choice of premium accommodation in Jaipur. Each hotel has retained the city’s former glory and royal demeanour and the service excels itself. Just remember to book your stay well in advance to avoid disappointment, as it is busy year round in this city of royal romance. Some of the most highly recommended hotels to stay in whilst visiting Jaipur include the Taj Group’s Rambagh Palace and the Jai Mahal Palace Hotel. The opulence of both hotels will literally take your breath away and many a wedding takes place in the perfectly landscaped grounds of these hotels with their backdrop of lush palms and fountains.

A quick tip: whether staying at the Rambagh Palace or not, do take time to enjoy the delicious al-fresco breakfast buffet where the smart Jodhpur & waistcoat clad staff will treat you like royalty. With eggs made to order and succulent sausages and bacon following plates of the freshest, sweetest fruits, the plump muffins and Danish pastries are hard to refuse especially when accompanied with a choice of teas, coffee and piping hot chocolate. And all served in the finest china and silver.

Drive further down the main boulevards of Jaipur city and you come to a set of intricately carved arches, which divide the Old City from the New City. Once through the arches, your senses are immediately assaulted by the noisy onslaught of rickshaws, buffalo carts, taxis, bicycles, scooters, elephants and cars all jostling for space on the same road. Whistle blowing policemen, horn blowing cars, mooing cows and convincing street peddlars create a melodious harmony of ethnic sounds, which to the first time visitor to Jaipur, can be quite startling!

In addition to booking your flights and accommodation, we can also arrange:

• Meet & Greet at Airport
• Assistance of a Wedding Planner
• Wedding Day schedule
• A beauty treatment for the bride (manicure /pedicure /hair styling etc)
• A professional wedding photographer to record memories of your special day.
• Assistance with all legal paperwork
• Appointment at the Registrar’s Office the day before the Wedding

Annie Jones writes about “Weddings In India”. Get more information about Cheap Flights To India at http://www.ticketstoindia.co.uk