Rajgadhi Timbo, Umta

Rajgadhi Timbo is a mound in Umta village, Visnagar taluka, Mehsana district, protected by the Gujarat State Archaeology Department. It rose about 50 feet over some 3,000 square metres and hid a large Jain temple. The temple was probably attacked by Alauddin Khalji's generals in 1299, after which its lower part was buried under layers of lime for protection. Later a royal house, the Rajgadhi, stood on the mound until the Marathas burned it in 1726, and in 1890 Sayajirao Gaekwad built a school there.

Finds of idols from 1903 onward led to excavations from 1984, halted by lack of funds and by disputes between Jain sects before resuming in 2001. At a depth of 30 feet a sandstone temple in the Solanki style came to light, its lower part almost intact and its walls and pillars carved. Inscriptions date its idols to Vikram Samvat 1240, and more than 70 idols of both Jain sects lay deliberately buried near the foundations.