There are several temples and religious structures in India that are not just a place of worship but also a reflection of the country’s history and culture.
Things like the architecture, art involved in it, interior designing and other aspects all let us know little trivia about historical moments of the country.
Some of them also let us marvel at the unique ways of building that were perhaps not possible now or were one of a kind at that time.
One of those would be the Kanch Mandir located in Indore which is over 100 years old and has interiors made entirely of glass.
What Is The Kanch Mandir?
The Kanch Mandir is named in a pretty self-explanatory way with it literally meaning a temple of glass. Built in 1903 by Sir Seth Hukumchand Jain, the place is a well-known Jain temple located in Indore and serves as a central location for Indore’s Jain community.
The structure made from white stone on the outside looks like a medieval palace, having a balcony and shikhara, and not like a typical temple. The true brilliance of it is inside though, where the interiors are entirely covered in glass panels and mosaics, with some being in different colours like red, green, and blue.
Reports claim that Seth Hukumchand had craftsmen come in from Jaipur and even some from Iran to create the temple with black marble being used for the idol of Lord Shantinath, and white marble for the idols of Adinath and Chandraprabhu.
The temple is known to be unique since it is covered with various coloured pieces of glass in all areas, the roof, ground, and every corner with intricate glass paintings also adding to the beauty. It is said that sunrise is the best time to visit the temple since the sun’s rays falling on the glass would create an iridescent effect.
Read More: Tintin’s 1930’s Visit To India Documents Jain Temple Of 1800s, Found In Kolkata Now
As per reports, Naresh Jain, the manager of the Kanch Mandir claims the temple was built in 1913 and just recently completed 110 years. He has explained that the temple does not have any usage of cement for anything during construction, instead, the structure is connected with lime.
The temple’s 3 Lord Mahavira statues or Tirthankara idols as they are called are in the main Garbhagriha and are placed in a special glass chamber with mirrors on both sides which creates an illusion of infinite statues.
The temple has more than 50 murals showcasing various Jain mythological stories like that of Ashta-karma, and more.
Madhya Pradesh Tourism stated about the temple “It features delicately crafted lanterns & cut glass chandeliers. Tourists can also see around 50 murals in the temple, each of which portrays one of the Jain stories.”
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: News18, India.com, Bhaskar
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This post is tagged under: Temple, Temple india, kanch mandir, kanch mandir indore, Kanch Mandir Indore history, Madhya Pradesh temple, indore temple
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