Remains are of a Jain temple, says monk

DNA
Vadodara: The remnants of an ancient temple, which were found on the SSG hospital premises during digging a few days back, are of an ancient Jain temple. This was claimed by a Jain monk who visited the site on Monday. The remnants included an arc, some carved stones and an idol.

MSU vice-chancellor, Ramesh Goel, has appointed a committee to investigate the matter and submit a detailed report in this regard.

The remnants were found while digging was going on for construction of an auditoriumat the SSG hospital. Dr Adish Jain, who was passing by the place, saw the sand stones found at the site.
On a close look, he was astonished to see carvings on the stone. He immediately informed senior officials of the hospital about it, and soon the archaeology department officials were informed about the remnants.

According to a team of archaeology department, which visited the spot, it was difficult to state whether the remnants were of a Jain temple or Hindu temple, as the architecture of both kinds of temples are more or less the same.

Senior members of the Jain Youth Association, along with Jain monk Niranjansagar Suriswarji Maharaj Saheb visited the spot on Monday.

After observing the carvings and stones, he said these were the remnants of a Jain temple. Talking to DNA, association's principal Deepak Shah said, "The remnants belong to a jain temple, thought to be of the pre-Moghul era. MSU V-C, along with senior members of the university also visited the spot. He has appointed a committee to investigate the matter and file a detailed report. We have demanded conservation of the temple's remnants as this is a part of our ancient heritage."

It may be noted at this juncture that in 1992-93 idol of a Jain Tirthankar was found during the stone installation ceremony of the urological department at the SSG hospital. In 2001-02, some other sandstones were also found on the hospital premises. According to investigations, they belonged to 14th century. Before that, some coins and an idol were found in 1951-52 from the SSG hospital premises.

The archaeology department has initiated investigations to get information about the remnants found.