Babu Amichand Panalal Adishwarji Jain Temple, Walkeshwar

Mumbai has one the largest populations of Jains among all the cities in India so there are numerous Jain temples in the city where the best known is the Babu Amichand Panalal Adishwarji Jain Temple built in 1904. The temple is dedicated to Lord Adishwar (also known as Adinath or Rishabhdev), the first of 24 Jain Tirthankaras (omniscients, also called "Arihants" or "Jinas") of the current era. The temple is presently used by thousands of devotees of the Jain religion for their daily worship. The entrance is artistically sculptured giving the whole place an aesthetic richness. Two elephants brilliantly made out of stone are placed on both the sides of the main gate in the Jain Temple. The temple is adorned with colorful paintings, which have been painted very diligently. It is an absolute pleasure to observe and enjoy these paintings. Compared to most Jain temples, the building is very large. In addition to the main idol of Lord Adinath, it contains idols of several other Arihants and also many tableaux of scenes from the Jain scriptures. In the outer courtyard there is a small shrine dedicated to Shri Ghantakaran Mahavir, a "deva" (celestial being) whose worship is believed to provide powerful protection from various kinds of harm through the invocation of a special mantra. The wide array of religious idols also contains an image of Lord Ganesh, signifying the past connections between Hinduism and Jainism.