1,444 pillars, no two alike
Ranakpur travel guide
The Chaumukha temple at Ranakpur is the finest piece of stone craftsmanship in western India and it is astonishingly under-visited. Sixty-five years of carving; not one of its 1,444 pillars repeats another's pattern, and the light moves across them all day.
- Best time to visit
- October to March; visit between 12 noon and 5 pm, the only window open to non-Jain visitors
- How many days
- Half day, combined with Kumbhalgarh
Top things to do in Ranakpur
Chaumukha Jain Temple
Allow a full hour. Sit under the main dome for ten minutes and look up.
Surya Narayan Temple
Two minutes away, carved sun chariot, almost always empty.
Ranakpur dam
Quiet water and forest, good for a picnic stop.
Hidden places most visitors miss
- The rear ambulatory carvings on the north side, which nearly every visitor walks past
Where and what to eat
- The temple trust bhojanshala serves a simple, excellent Jain thali at lunch
Photography spots
- The pillar corridor at 1 pm when shafts of light cut through
- The domed ceiling directly above the central shrine