Palitana, and the hills.
Three thousand seven hundred and fifty steps up Shatrunjaya, barefoot, past 863 temples on the ridge — and nobody sleeps at the top, not even the priests, because the summit belongs to the Tirthankaras. Sammed Shikharji in Jharkhand is the greater site: twenty of the twenty-four are held to have reached liberation there.
Palitana in Gujarat is the densest concentration of temples anywhere: 863 on the ridge of Shatrunjaya hill, reached by 3,750 steps climbed barefoot, usually starting before dawn to beat the heat, with doli chairs and two carriers available for those who cannot walk. The unusual rule is that nobody may remain on the hill overnight — not pilgrims, not priests, not the trust's staff — because the summit belongs to the Tirthankaras and is not a place for human sleep. Rishabhanatha is said to have preached there. Girnar, Mount Abu with the Dilwara marble carving, and Ranakpur are the other major Svetambara sites. Sammed Shikharji in Jharkhand, also called Parasnath Hill, is the greatest of all: twenty of the twenty-four Tirthankaras are held to have attained liberation there, and the circumambulation of the hill is around 27 kilometres, done barefoot in a day, usually beginning around two in the morning. It is sacred to both major sects, which most sites are not.
The same ground, other faiths
rites that share this one's ideasSign in to open the first thread. Everything here is attributed.