India: Jaisalmer – Jain Temples of Jaisalmer Fort
The temple insanity continues – right in the heart of the awesome hilltop Jaisalmer Fort are 7 golden sandstone interconnected Jain temples dating to 12-16th century. As if taken straight from the Indian Jones experience, the temples are a maze of intricately carved soft yellow sandstone with perhaps thousands of reliefs and frescoes and sculptures, hundreds of sitting Buddha god relics, absolutely insanely decorated ceilings, doorways with dragons, dark passageways, hundreds of tombs, and hundreds of carved pillars and columns. Besides the carved decorations and figures inside, the outside of the temples is also beyond ornate – you need to find a rooftop somewhere nearby to climb and see the roofs of the temples with lions, monkeys and tons of other carved stuff. The carving style is known as Dilwara, world famous for its architectural detail and precision carving. Lastly, Jain means belonging to the Jain religion, or Jainism, which is neither Buddhism nor Hinduism, with 4-5 million followers mostly in India.
