After my not so included in my bucket list stop over’s at (Read Water fall and REHET) i was atlast reaching my decided stop over “Ranakpur Temple”. I had decided this as the first stop over on my Udaipur to Jodhpur journey , though i stopped at some points but this was the main destination of mine where i had to reach.
According to Ranakpur temple timings only i had decided to leave from Udaipur at 9.00 AM as temple entry starts after 11.00 AM only for tourists , before that it is opened for the pilgrims only and tourists are not allowed in those ours.
After a 3 hr journey from Udaipur i reached to Ranakpur Temple atlast. But one hurdle was yet to be crossed , as my style and more because of being comfortable while travelling specialy when it was a Rajasthan tour , i was travelling most of time in shorts only and in Ranakpur temple one is not allowed like this and according to their rules i was in inappropriate dress , though this thing was told by my driver only when we reached there , so had to open my luggage and had to change my clothes in the car only.
Atlast i was in front of a Majestic masterpiece of that era when construction of this type of achitecture icons was very much in fashion.
The construction of this temple has been documented on copper plate as 1437 CE though it kept on under construction mode till 1458 AD under the rule of Rana Kumbha , then ruler of Mewar.
But the most eye opening thing for me was when i looked at the structure and guide told me , “Sir please dont try to count to pillars , as there are somewhere around 1444 pillars , they could be more than that also” . I dumb struck when i heard this , but next line was about to come. Every pillar has been carved with a different look , different designs , no two pillar would be found of any similarity.
The temple is designed as Chaumukha (four faces).The construction of the temple and quadrupled image symbolize the Tirthankara’s conquest of the four cardinal directions and hence the cosmos.
This picture was of one of the pillars of the temple. But i would say i was not that lucky enough , as told by the priest and the guide (who itself was the priest of temple only) one pillar in the temple has been carved with the design’s of snakes and many snakes have been entangeled together in the design that it is impossible to locate the tip of tail of one snake. It is said one who could find that pillar is considered as lucky and gods grace has fallen on him. May be i am not that lucky enough , i tried to find that pillar but it seemed impossible.
Guide told me , he is a priest , stays there whole day everyday but he has also not seen that pillar though his Guru’s ( higher priest ) have seen but that too only once in their lifetime.
I had accepted i am not that lucky , and move ahead finishing my stop over at Ranakpur temple. It was going to take some 3 hrs more for me to reach Jodhpur , in which half of the time me and my driver were planning for some more trips specially to Ranakpur Temple and find that temple , this story of that snake pillar whether true or not, as every place has some folk lores and they keep changing with every mouth , but it seemed a nice time pass for us for the onward journey till my next stop over at Om Bana Temple.
