Palitana

The Palitana temples are considered the most sacred pilgrimage place by the Jain community, and is the world’s largest temple cmplex with more than 3000 temples located on the Shatrunjaya hills, exquisitely carved in marble. Jainism is a relatively small religion, with only a little over 4 million believers in India and small pockets of followers throughout the rest of the world. The Jains' primary belief is non-violence; they believe that people, animals and even plants have souls and should be treated equally and well. Although they have no gods or spiritual figures, they do live with the principle of reincarnation in mind, hoping to eventually be liberated from the cycle of life and rebirth in an eternal transcedence. The Shatrunjaya Hill site is huge and pilgrimage rites are difficult for such an ascetic religion. The hill's 3,950 steps often take three hours to climb, with the elderly often hiring a dholi, a seat attached to a pole carried by strong men, to the top. It is the goal of devout Jains to climb the mountain 99 times in their lifetimes.