Plate: Satrunjaya Hills

Summary

This single‑page plate presents a photograph of the Śatruñjaya (Shatrunjaya) hills, a renowned Jain pilgrimage site near Pālītānā in Gujarat. The hills are crowned with an enormous complex of 865 marble temples, making them the most sacred location for Śvetāmbara Jainshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shatrunjaya#:~:text=enemies,2. According to tradition, Ṛṣabha, the first Tīrthaṅkara, delivered sermons here, and his chief disciple Pundarīka Swami attained nirvāṇa on these hills. Devotees climb more than three thousand steps to reach the temples, an act seen as both physical exertion and spiritual penance. The photograph captures the serene beauty of the temples nestled among the rugged landscape and conveys the sense of timeless devotion associated with the site. For Jain pilgrims, visiting Śatruñjaya is considered equivalent to visiting all other tirthas combined. The plate thus serves as a visual interlude between narratives, reminding readers of the living tradition that these ancient stories sustain. It invites contemplation of the relationship between architecture, geography and spiritual practice.