Temples and Buildings
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Lal Mandir is a great example of how communities have preserved culture during difficult times. From the audacity of Jivraj Papriwal and the vision of Jinachandra Deva to the faith of the army officer and the spirit of Agarwal Jain community, a piece of history survived and Sri Digambar Jain Lal Mandir Ji, as it is fully known, has become a revered place for Jains from all over the world and a cultural icon in the old city of Delhi.
First temple in old Delhi that had a Shikhar, a prominent characteristic of the Hindu temple architecture. Even though this temple was built in 1807, when Delhi was ruled by Mughals, the art of negotiation by Raja Harsukh Rai who was a treasurer for the Mughal emperor enabled this temple to be build. Now, even after 200 years this place is as peaceful and serene as its creator had imagined.
Vajranabh, the great grandson of Lord Krishna created 3 idols of Krishna based on description provided to him by his grandmother who was daughter-in-law of Krishna and had seen Krishna with her own eyes. The 3 idols – Sri Madan Mohan Ji, Sri Gopi Nath Ji and Sri Govind Dev Ji are probably the oldest known idols of Krishna and were protected because of efforts and care taken by people who believed in the same cause as preserve culture.
Mutual respect for each other’s ideas and accommodating different points of view is how progress is made and it often leads to extraordinary achievements by mankind. Sri Govind Dev Ji temple in Vrindavan is a great example of this principal practiced by Emperor Akbar and Raja Man Singh and show how mutual respect for different faiths, collaboration, and compromises can lead to wonderful creations.
There are numerous beautiful temples in India and many of these took multiple generations to get completed. One truly has to wonder what inspired mankind to undertake construction of these temples lasting several hundred of years in some cases. To get an answer to this question, you have to visit Ranakpur and experience it yourself, where the saying goes that if you enter this temple once, you will begin your journey towards Moksha where you become one with the divine.
There are several example of rock cut architecture in the world. Abu Simbel in Egypt, Petra in Jordan and Ellora caves in India are some of the most beautiful structures built by carving out rocks. Sometimes the entire facade of a rock is cut or sometimes carving is done in and around a cave. But Kailash temple is the only structure in the world where an entire temple complex is carved out of a single rock. By looking at it’s intricate design and sheer size, one can’t stop but marvel at the ingenuity and planning that went into its construction.