File:Luna Vasahi, Tejpal Neminath temple, Dilwara Mount Abu Rajasthan.jpg

English: This is a JPEG format plan and architectural drawing of a historic Indian temple or monument. An alternate SVG format (scalable vector graphics) version of this file – for web graphics, design studies, print, dynamic and interactive applications – has also been uploaded to wikimedia commons.

The drawing:

• Mount Abu hills and town, rising to 4000 feet in the arid region of Rajasthan, is a picturesque historic pilgrimage site for the Jains and Hindus. It is referred to as Arbuda in Sanskrit texts. It has a scenic valley that stretches over 6 miles by 2.5 miles approximately, one that has attracted Hindu and Jain monasteries and temples since the about the 7th-century.

• Luna Vasahi, or Neminath mandir, or Tejpal Temple (sometimes spelled Tejahpala temple) is a Jain temple whose floor plan is shown above. It was completed in the 13th-century. It is one of five most exquisitely carved marble temples here. Collectively called the Dilwara temples, they are widely appreciated for their sophistication and details. The reliefs in these temples are primarily from Jain mythology and cosmology, including those of Neminath and Krishna who are believed by Jains to be cousins.

• Jain inscriptions found here from samvat 1378 (1321 CE) state that these temples were damaged by mlechchas (Muslims) and thereafter repaired. There were several waves of raids and repeated damage by Islamic iconoclasm, state Francis D.K. Ching et al, but the temples were repeatedly rebuilt by the Jain community (see A Global History of Architecture, page 336). The earliest inscription found here is from samvat 1088, recording the completion of Adinatha temple. The temples are thus a composite of the original and the repairs since the 14th-century.

• The Tejpal temple is named after the Vastupala-Tejpal brothers who built major Jain temples in Gujarat and Rajasthan. They were key ministers in the Vaghela Hindu dynasty of Gujarat.

• The temple's architectural plan follows the square and circle principle found in historic Sanskrit texts. Some unique principles illustrated here include the octagon formed by massive architraves and the carved circular dome sitting on them. According to James Fergusson, the ornamental delicacy here is exquisite, and those found in Henry VII chapel at Westminster and other Gothic sites are "coarse and clumsy" in comparison to the Tejpal temple.

• The other Dilwara temples have a similar floor plan, though the details and iconography vary. For a relative layout and plans of other temples, please see A Global History of Architecture, pages 336–337.

• GPS location of the monument:

  24° 36′ 34.3″ N, 72° 43′ 23.8″ E

  View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap

  24.609528; 72.723278

• The relative scale and relative dimensions in this architectural drawing are close to the actual but neither exact nor complete. The plan illustrates the design and layout, but some intricate details or parts of the temple may not be shown. In cases where exact measurements were not feasible, the drawing uses best approximations and rounds the best measurements feasible. This drawing uses, in part, some of the plans published by Henry Cousens, and republished in 1910 by James Fergusson in the History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, pages 36–44.

Note: Please do not overwrite this file. To modify or correct or load a new version, please upload a new separate file and link the new other version(s) to this file as recommended by wikimedia commons guidelines.