Palitana, the famous town for pilgrimage, has now made selling of non-vegetarian food illegal.
Located in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat, Palitana city is a revered place and one of the holiest pilgrimage sites for Jains. The order mentioned stopping the preparation and display of non-veg food items in public places.
The selling of non-vegetarian food is also banned in Rajkot city. Similar type of orders are also issued in several other cities including Vadodara, Junagadh and Ahmedabad. This is a revolutionary step as no such example is recorded anywhere in the world. In this article, we will discuss more about Palitana, its history and best places to visit. Let's begin.
Situated around Shatrunjaya Hills, Palitana is also known as Jain Temple Town due to occurance of over 800 temples. Palitana has a rich historical and religious significance. The town was founded in 1194, which was a princely and prime state in Saurashtra. After many years, in 1656, the son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, Murad Baksh conferred the village to the leading Jain merchant Shantidas Jhaveri.
Located 9 km from the main town, you will come across the most sacred hills for known as Shatrunjaya Hills. According to Shatrunjaya Mahatmya, Rishabha delivered his first sermon here who became the first Tirthankara. Surprisingly, the 863 Jain temples on this hilly region is spread in nine clusters. This is also the world's largest Temple Complex. It took nearly 900 years to build these temples. The initial construction was completed during 11th and 12th centuries AD. However, the present condition of the temple was not the ancient version. A wealthy businessman named Anandji Kalyanji who became Jain contributed largely to build this temple complex in a new way.
Located on the bank of river Shatrunjaya, this famous temple is dedicated to Bhagwan Rishabhdev or Shri Adishwar Bhagwan. As per historical record, it was built by Bharat Chakravartin, the eldest son of Bhagwan Rishabhdev. The temple management has also preserved the footprints of Bhagwan Rishabhdev even today. This octagonal shaped temple is home to four idols of Rishabhdev facing four cardinal directions. The exhilarating view of the Shatrunjaya and Kadamgir mountain on both the sides is something you cannot miss here.
Within a small distance of the main city center, Shri Vishal Jain Museum is located in Taleti area. The museum is named after great Jain Acharya Vishalsen Suriji. This one of the few museums across the globe completely dedicated to the history of Jainism. From beautiful artifacts, coins to ancient manuscripts on palm leaves, this is something historians crave for. Some art works present in this museum are even more than 500 years old.
Located at a distance of 57 km from the main town, this beautiful beach used to be the summer home of Maharaja Krishna Kumar Singhji. Enjoy the great views of the sunset behind stunning limestone cliffs. The major attractions around the bridge are 700 years old Mahadev temple and European colonial styled mansion built by Maharaja which is now converted into a heritage hotel. Do not even try to go for swimming as high tidal force may lead to accident.
October to March is the best time to visit Palitana. As there is no direct train routes or flights from major cities to Palitana, you need to reach Ahmedabad and take local train or bus. It will take 4-5 hours of journey from Ahmedabad to Palitana.
So many astonishing religious places attract global tourists to Palitana which has an average footfalls of 3000 every year.
