Abhapur Jain Temples

Abhapur, a village near Polo Forest in Sabarkantha district, has twelve temples of the Śvetāmbara Jain sect, all dating from the 15th century. Jain and Hindu temples stand close together here and at Polo and Antarsurbha, a sign that the two faiths shared the area in medieval times. All are now ruins, blackened by sun and rain.

The largest is Lakhena na Dera, also called the Lakhena temple, a two-storey sandstone building of about 150 by 70 feet that was once surrounded by 52 small devkulika shrines. Its main dome is gone, leaving only the arch, but the mandapa keeps carved ceilings and jali screens in natural and geometric patterns, along with apsara figures, swan panels and richly carved pillars. The main image is Parshvanatha flanked by Padmavati, and a lower chamber once hid idols. A second temple, of brick and marble, survives mostly as a plinth, while a third, of brick and sandstone, shows Indra as door guardian and the goddesses Chakreshwari, Padmavati and Ambika on its walls.