Ahichchhatra Jain Temples

The Ahichchhatra Jain temples stand in Ahichchhatra village, Aonla tehsil, Bareilly district. Jains believe that Parshvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara, attained Kevala Jnana here while his brother Kamath sent unending rain; the serpent god Dharanendra spread a thousand-hooded canopy over him and the goddess Padmavati coiled around him, which gave the place its name, meaning 'serpent umbrella'. Ahichchhatra was once among the sixteen Mahajanapadas, and the site has yielded early Jain inscriptions, temples excavated by Führer and Cunningham, and Kushan and Gupta-period sculpture.

The Digambara temple, rebuilt in 1975, has seven altars, one with a 6-foot Mahavira, and a 10th-century main idol known as Tikhal wale Baba. Newer additions are the Tis Chaubisi temple of 2002 with 720 Tirthankara idols, the Parshvanath-Padmavati temple of 2007 and the Chaubisi temple. The Svetambara temple, of buff sandstone, houses a thousand images. The Ahichchhatra Jain Mela is held each March.