The Mahudi Jain temple is a 100 year old Jain temple in the small town of Mahudi, situated only an hour from Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The temple has ancient idols of Jain tirthankars Padmaprabhu & Ajitnath. However, the major attraction of the masses that visit here is for Ghantakarna Mahavir who is considered miraculous.

Being a Gujarati born and brought up in Mumbai, I have barely spent any quality time in Gujarat. So, earlier this month, I am glad that I managed to get 10 days in Ahmedabad with my parents. On the weekend we visited the Mahudi Jain temple. We were planning to explore the historic ‘pols’ of Ahmedabad, but as I did my morning yoga practices, my Mom realised that Mahudi is just an hour or so from where we were staying. And so we (she) decided to go there instead. 😀

Mom called an outstation Ola cab, so by the time my yoga practices were done, the car was almost at our building. Easy. 

The History of Mahudi Jain Temple with Ghantakarna Mahavir: The Protector of Jainism

As lore goes, the region was seeing a decline of Jain followers. One can understand that with the earlier Muslim occupation, then British rule and a Hindu majority, the Jains would find it hard to find their space. And so one of the then Jain monks Buddhi Sagarji Maharaj established the Ghantakarna Mahavir deity, who is considered the protector of Jain religion, here about 100 years back (some sites claim the idol itself is much older, but re-consecrated 100 years back). So, the current temples aren’t that old, 100 years can hardly be considered ‘old’ in India. But the site itself is much older. There are many ancient idols found in the temple. These idols have been excavated from the nearby region but I can’t seem to find any proper historic source about them, which is not unusual. These older idols have now been placed in the initial temple which is a little to the side. The ghantakarna idol was also placed in this temple. But it has now been moved to a new temple which is at the center of the complex. This new temple is a dedicated shrine to Ghantakarna Mahavir.

When I went there, this new temple was being renovated. I think they are going to paint it a bright Gold from outside. It’s already all Gold from inside. Is it real Gold plating? Quite possibly, since they have built a cage around it, which is quite unusual for Jain temples. In fact this is the first such Gold coloured Jain temple I have seen. 🙂

Why This Mahudi Temple is So Famous!

The Ghantakarna Mahavir murti was first consecrated as part of the older Jain temple which has Padmaprabhu, 6th Jain tirthankar, as the main murti of this temple. However, since then the Ghantakarna Mahavir shrine became very popular. People from far and wide started visiting as they considered Him to be wish-fulfilling and miraculous. Not only Jains, but Hindus also visit Ghantakarna Mahavir in large numbers. Thus, the idol was moved out of the original temple and a new temple was created specifically for this yaksha (Jains consider him a Yaksha, while Hindus would consider him a deity).

One of the interesting rituals here is to offer some sukhadi, a delicacy made from jaggery, wheat flour, ghee and few spices, to the Ghantakarna deity. It’s possible to buy a plate of different sizes at a counter nearby. If you plan on buying some then enquire about the timing right when you reach there so you don’t miss it. AFAIK they will make sukhadi only in the first half of the day, though I am not sure. The cost for this plate of sukhadi is very reasonable, starting at 30 INR. Very cool for this tasty and fairly wholesome dish 🙂

The first thing is to take the plate of sukhadi, all warm and freshly made, to the pujari in the Ghantakarna temple. He will take the tray, offer it to the deity, mutter some chants and scrape off a few pieces for the temple. Then we can take the remaining plate and distribute amongst ourselves. They have made a nice sitting area a little away from the temple where families can sit together and have the prasad. You can leave the empty plate of the prasad in the designated area.

As most Indians would know, we consider prasad sacred. Not even a tiny crumb should be wasted. So prasad is eaten with great care. Though inevitably there is some dropped here and there as small kids and hasty adults take their fill. When you order your plate of Sukhadi, ensure that you take just enough that your group can eat. If you take a much bigger plate, then finishing it off can be tricky especially cause it must NOT be wasted. And since everyone wants to offer their own plates, it may not be easy to find someone else to whom you can offer it. It is not allowed to carry the prasad away with you and eat later on, that is part of the tradition. The sukhadi prasad of Ghantakarna Mahavir must be had in the temple premises only and not to be carried away.

Generally, I don’t engage much with many of such rituals but here I felt great in participating in this.

These temples were a very positive experience for me. I loved the place and could have easily spent hours.

Note: strict Jains don’t offer foods to deities or yakshas. Or if it is offered then it cannot by eaten by them. So, strict Jains don’t participate in this sukhadi ritual. They consider it a wrong activity followed by Hindu devotees. I personally love this ritual and happily offer to the Ghantakarna Mahavir and then partake in restover sukhadi. 🙂

Ancient Idols – Padmaprabhu, Ajitnath & more

There are many ancient idols in the initial temple. Don’t miss the ancient Ajitnath idol in kayotsarga (standing) posture and the exquisite pradakshina around the main deity of the place, Padmaprabha Swami, the 6th Jain tirthankar of this half yuga cycle. All the 24 tirthankar shrines can be found on the pradakshina. There are also other shrines with bigger idols of Adinath, Chintamani Parshwanath, Simandhar Swami which add to the experience.

All in all I loved the place. And I was very surprised to find out later that these temples were only 100 or so years old. So I quickly suspected that the site was a lot older. Because my experience of it was similar to the few ancient temples I have visited where one feels some different quality that seems almost effused in the very air of the place. This is one of the very few Jain temples that have brought about such feelings of devotion in me.

Do visit it if you get a chance and partake in some Sukhadi. 🙂

Travel Information to Visit Mahudi Jain Temple

Here’s the official website of the temple.

Food: As usual with Jain temples, there is a bhojnalaya there which provides delicious Jain meals at the particular times for all visitors.

Stay: There is also a fairly large dharamshala in this temple complex itself where the pilgrims can stay and do many days of sadhana. I am sure there will be some place for the monks to live and the whole bunch of associated activities that Jain sangha has around its temples.

Festivals: The major festival associated with this Ghantakarna deity is Kali chaudas, so that may be a good time to visit too apart from any other day. And since Padmaprabhu is the main deity here, you can consider visiting during his 5 kalyanaks (days of significance) – tithis here.

Mahudi to Gandhinagar: is just about an hour. 40 kms by map. Nice, smooth road with farms on both sides and not many villages on the way.

Mahudi to Ahmedabad: About an hour and half.

Transport: You can take an Ola outstation cab from any of these destinations (or any other private taxi). For a small car Ola charges Rs 9/km. But they have a minimum number of kms requred. So they will typically charge you for 150 km (maybe lesser in other private taxis). If you are taking a cab from Adalaj or Gandhinagar then you could discuss with the cab guy to take you to Vijapur and other adjoining places also which have Jain temples. Our Ola guy refused to take us to Vijapur even though it is only an extra 10km because we earlier inputted Mahudi in the Ola system. But he did take us to any place in Gandhinagar enroute.

Local buses are also probably available. Cycle would be great too, the roads are wonderful.

Vijapur: The nearest train station to Mahudi is Vijapur. And there is another really good Jain temple there of Sphoorling Parshwanath, my parents tell me.

There is also another interesting Jain temple just a couple of kms outside of Mahudi. Yes, it is this pyramid structure you see in the picture below!

Just a couple of kms outside of Mahudi on the road heading back to Gandhinagar and Amdavad, you will spot an unusual Pyramid structure with some Jain signboards. It IS a unique Jain temple and I think worth a visit to see something really different. The temple inside the pyramid is made for meditation purpose. But it also has very impressive idols for pooja and all that. I don’t have much to say about it as an actual path to deepen our sadhana but just from the perspective of seeing something new, it is interesting. Strict Jains may not be interested in visiting as it seems to be a tangent from the traditional Jain path.

All in all this visit to Amdavad, Mahudi and the ride with a very Gujarati Ola cab driver made me feel like I had for the first time gotten a taste of “Gujarat”, which is the land of my ancestors, at least a few generations of ancestors.

If you visit Mahudi or any nearby areas, tell me about it! 🙂