Sonagiri

A hill covered in white Digambara temples, and one of the tradition’s principal siddha-kshetras — a place from which souls are held to have attained liberation.

Some seventy-seven temples stand on the hill and more below it, whitewashed and stepped up the slope so that the whole rise reads as a single structure from a distance.

Sonagiri is a siddha-kshetra: a site from which, in tradition, souls attained liberation — here Nanganang Kumar and a great many ascetics with him. That is what draws pilgrims rather than any single building, and it is why the hill is climbed barefoot.

The principal temple is dedicated to Chandraprabhu, the eighth Tirthankara, whose image stands some three and a half metres.

Worth knowing

• A Digambara site; the conventions of dress and conduct are those of that tradition.

For opening times and access, check the temple's own announcements — they change, and we would rather list nothing than send you to a closed door.

Written for Jain Times. Corrections are welcome — see sources and licences.