Muchhala Mahavir Tirth

This jain tirth is situated as at a distance of 5 Kilometers from the Ghanerao village of Pali district Rajasthan. Falna is the nearest railway station at a distance of 40 kilometers and Rani town is at a distance of 50 kilometers. Nadlai, Sadari and Ranakpur jain tirths are at a distance of 1 kilometers, 12 kilometers and 21 kilometers respectively. There is no mention of antiquity of this temple. But it is regarded to be very ancient. The last renovation was accomplished in the year 2022 vikram era and the idol was installed. This is a delightful temple surrounded by hills. It is very charming and beautiful temple. The open squares, pillars and artistic models in the round passage are delightful and pleasing. Mulnayak in this jain temple is 24th tirthankar of jainism Bhagawan Mahavir Swami. There is about 120 cms. high, white colored idol of Bhagawan Mahavir Swami in the Padmasana Posture. The entrance of temple has two statues of the elephants which are standing in the guarding position. There are good boarding and lodging facilities in the premises of temple. A fair is held here every year on the thirteenth day of the month of Chaitra. This tirth belongs to the group of the five jain tirths of Godvad named Shri Kirtistambh Tirth (Muchhala Mahavir, Ghanerao), Shri Manmohan Parshwanath (Bali), Shri Sadari Tirth (Sadari), Shri Nadlai Tirth (Nadlai) and Shri Nadol Tirth (Nadol). This temple has a very interesting story of nomenclature as Muchchhala Mahavir. Once the Rana of Mewar was on a hunt and he came to the temple where he was offered the Prasad of the Lord Mahavir as refreshment, and the Rana was amused to find a strand of white hair in the Prasad, which must have fallen from the priest’s head. As joking to priest, Rana asked “Does your Lord have a mustache?” The priest, without realizing what he was saying, replied, "Yes". Further joking, Rana refused to pay his respects to the Lord that day, and told the priest that he would return after three days, and wanted to see the mustache of the lord. The priest didn’t know what to do and spent the next two days in prayer. When he did not see any results, he decided to commit suicide rather than be killed by the king. When he picked up the dagger of Bhairon at the temple to kill himself, the Lord appeared before him and advised him to cover the face of the idol with a piece of cloth and ask the king to remove the cloth himself after offering prayers. When the king arrived the next day, the priest welcomed him warmly and asked the king to have a bath and offer prayers to the Lord himself. Seeing the cloth covering the face of the idol, the king became angry and demanded an explanation. The priest replied to the king what he had been ordered to do by the Lord. Offering his prayers to the Lord when king unveiled the idol. The idol of Mahavir not only had moustaches, but also a beard. The king repented for having made such a joke and asked forgiveness from the priest. He was forgiven, and the beard and moustache disappeared, but the name has stuck. The Lord has, since then, been called ‘Mucchala Mahavir’, or the Mahavir who had a mustache. It is assumed that even today many miraculous events happen here.