Ajmer Jain Temple (Soniji Ki Nasiyan)

Siddhkoot Chaityalaya was founded in 1864. It is also known as ‘Red Temple’ as it is built of red sandstone, or as ‘Nasiyan of Seth Moolchand Soni’ signifying the founder’s name.  This temple is dedicated to Rishabhanatha who was born to king Nabhi and queen Marudevi in the north Indian city of Ayodhya. He was the first of twenty-four Tirthankara. 

The temple is a double storey building and has a huge hall in the top level. This hall has large wooden statues that depict Jain mythology. The artifacts here show the ancient world in a Jain perspective.

There is a museum attached to the temple. The first floor is called the 'Swarna Nagari' which took twenty-five years (from 1870 to 1895) to complete. Thousands of individual parts were required to assemble a three-dimensional replica of the story of Rishabha in accordance with an old manuscript by Acharya Jinasena. It has several gold-plated wooden figures, depicting several figures in the Jain religion. This golden chamber of the temple uses 1000 kg of gold to carve out a depiction of Ayodhya.