Jain temples of Deogarh

The Jain temples of Deogarh, in Uttar Pradesh's Lalitpur district, are a group of 31 shrines built between the 8th and 17th centuries on the eastern side of the hill fort. They are later than Deogarh's Hindu temples. The best known is the Shantinath Temple, built before 862 AD; worship still continues at some of the temples, and the Archaeological Survey of India protects the site and runs a museum of sculpture here.

Around 2,000 sculptures fill the complex. Panels show scenes from Jain mythology alongside images of the 24 Tirthankaras, yakshas and yakshinis, and votive tablets, and the pillars carry a thousand carved Jain figures. Sculptures line the path from the gate and are set by the thousand into the surrounding walls, a profusion attributed to the fort having been a sculptors' workshop. The temples suffered in iconoclastic raids and later neglect; the local Jain community has managed them since 1939 and set up a committee after thieves looted images in 1959.