Place · Digambara Jain temple · India
Kesariyaji, Udaipur
Also known as Kesariyaji, Kesariyaji — Rishabhdeo, Rishabhdeo, Rishabhdeo (Kesariyaji), Udaipur
The Kesariyaji Adinatha Jain temple at Rishabhdeo in Udaipur district, Rajasthan, 65 kilometres from Udaipur — a major Digambara Jain tirtha in the Aravalli foothills. The temple is dedicated to Adinatha (Rishabhanatha, the first Jain Tirthankara). The temple's foundation is 15-century Digambara community establishment, with major 18-century Mewar royal patronage. The temple's distinctive feature is its draw not only to Jain pilgrims but also to the Bhil tribal communities of the surrounding Aravalli hills, who worship Adinatha as 'Kesariyaji' (saffron lord, due to the saffron offerings tradition). The temple's cross-community pilgrimage — Jain merchants and Bhil tribals worshipping the same deity — makes it an exceptional case in Jain pilgrimage. The temple's annual Chaitra festival each March-April draws over 100,000 pilgrims. Managed by the Rishabhdeo Digambar Jain Tirtha Trust.
- Function
- Sacred site & pilgrimage
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 24.317, 73.683
Connections (2)
- Companion in the same setMahavir Ji, Sawai Madhopur
Kesariyājī in the Aravallis and Mahāvīr Ji in Sawai Madhopur are the two Rajasthan Digambara tirthas with large Bhil and Mīna followings, and both have a founding story in which an Adivasi finds the image. Their fairs are among the few religious occasions where Jain and Adivasi worship the same shrine together.
- Site withinUdaipur
Kesariyaji, Udaipur sits inside Udaipur and forms one piece of its layered sacred, royal or civic landscape. The city carries this entry as one of the sites that make its urban fabric legible — a shrine, monument, institution or craft tradition specifically anchored at this location — and the city's broader history reads better when the stop is seen in its context rather than in isolation. The surrounding streets, markets and other heritage ensembles around it belong to the same single city.
On these journeys
Sources
Wikipedia, “Kesariyaji”. Jain tīrtha guides and the Digambara and Śvetāmbara temple trusts’ own records.
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