Gopachal Hill

Gopachal Hill
Gopachal Parvat

Gopachal

Defaced Jain statues at Gopachal Hill
Highest point
Coordinates 26°13′17″N 78°10′41″E / 26.221521°N 78.178024°E / 26.221521; 78.178024Coordinates: 26°13′17″N 78°10′41″E / 26.221521°N 78.178024°E / 26.221521; 78.178024
Geography

Gopachal hill (also called Gopachal Parvat) is a hill located in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.[1] The famous Gwalior Fort stands on this hill. The hill houses unique groups of ancient Jain idols. From 1398 A.D. to 1536 A.D., thousands of Jain idols were carved in the hill. These giant statues were built during the reign of Tomar Kings — Viramdev, Dungar Singh and Kirti Singh.

History

The statues on the hill seem to be carved around 15-16th century AD by Tomar dynasty rulers.[1]

Temple Caves

There are 26 caves on the front side of the hill. A 57 feet high statue of Parshvanatha is present in one of the caves.[1] A 35 feet high statue of Suparshvanatha in the Padmasana posture is present in another cave in the same area. A 58 feet 4 inches high idol of Adinatha is present outside the Urvahi gate.[2] These idols were mercilessly destroyed under the reign of Mughal King Babur.

Traditional Significance

According to Jains, Tirthankara Parshvanath delivered his discourse (deshna) on this hill.

Gallery

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gopachal.

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.