Hutheesing Jain Temple

The Hutheesing Jain Temple was built in 1848 by Sheth Hutheesing Kesarisinh, an Ahmedabad merchant, and completed by his widow Sheth Aniben Hutheesing after his death. The temple is dedicated to the 15th Jain Tirthankar, Dharmanath, and is the most important Jain temple in Ahmedabad's Shahibaug area. The complex is a model of late-Solanki Jain temple architecture in white Makrana marble: the central shrine of Dharmanath sits in a rectangular courtyard surrounded by 52 small subsidiary shrines (devakulikas), each holding the image of a different Tirthankar. The carved pillars, ceiling rosettes, and torana arches are all worked in the same intricate style that defined Jain temples at Mount Abu and Ranakpur. The 78-foot Mahavir Kirti Stambha (commemorative pillar) at the front of the complex was added in 2003 to mark Mahavir's 2,600th birth anniversary. Visitors of all faiths welcome. Modest dress required. No leather permitted (belts, wallets, watches must be left at the entrance counter — common Jain temple rule). Photography prohibited inside the shrines but allowed in the courtyard.