Nagarparkar Jain Temples

The Nagarparkar area holds a group of Jain temples built between roughly the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, when a prosperous Jain merchant community lived along these trade routes: the Gori temple with its domed mandapa and traces of painted ceiling, the temples at Nagarparkar town, Bhodesar and Virawah, built in pale stone with carved columns, brackets and shikhara towers. They stand empty now, the community having left in the twentieth century, and their condition ranges from reasonably intact to badly decayed, with restoration work intermittent. What lifts the visit is the setting: the Karoonjhar hills behind are granite, pink and grey, rising abruptly from the desert plain, with seasonal streams, peacocks and a landscape that turns green after the monsoon. Bhodesar also holds a small medieval mosque and Hindu shrines, so several traditions sit within a few kilometres.

History

The wealthy local Jain community built these Śvetāmbara temples in the hills between the 12th and 15th centuries, and the area became a place of pilgrimage known as Sardhara; it was described in 1650 as the "most glorious of all regions of India". As silt from the Indus pushed the sea back from the trading centres, the Jain population moved away, largely in the 19th century; satellite imagery was used to document the site in 2009 (Wikipedia, Nagarparkar Jain temples).

Highlights

• The Gori temple - the best preserved, with its domed hall and ceiling traces.
• Bhodesar group - temples, a medieval mosque and shrines together.
• Carved stonework - columns, brackets and towers in pale stone.
• Karoonjhar hills - granite ridges rising from the desert behind.

When to go

November to February for comfortable travel; the monsoon months of July to September turn the Thar green and are visually the most striking, though roads can be difficult then. Summer is extremely hot.

Things to know

This is a long way from anywhere: Nagarparkar is at the far corner of the country and reaching it takes the best part of a day from Karachi. Temples are unstaffed, some are locked or fenced, and conservation is patchy. Facilities are minimal, with a couple of basic guesthouses. A local guide helps with access and directions.

Nearby

The Thar desert villages lie north; Umerkot is northwest.

Key facts