Mount Abu

Mount Abu

At a Glance
Population
3,0000
Area
NA
Geo Location
Northwest
Average Climate
12°C - 33°C
Best time to visit
Throughout the year

Considered one of the most popular tourist destinations in Rajasthan, Mount Abu is a green oasis amidst arid landscapes. A place of pilgrimage and the land of shimmering lakes and breathtaking monuments, Mount Abu is a great place to spend fun time with family, adventure activity with friends and memorable moments with loved ones. At an altitude of 1,220 meter is Mount Abu, the only hill station in Rajasthan, spread in a valley of the Aravalli range of hills. This thirteen kilometer long and five kilometer broad charming valley covered with luxuriant vegetation is more than a hill station, a place of hoary antiquity, particularly for the 1,000-years-old cluster of Jain temples, exquisitely cut and carved in pure marble. Mount Abu was called Arbudaanchal in the past and the surrounding region finds mention as Arbudaranya in the ‘Puranas’. It has been the original abode of the Gurjars (Gujars or Gujjars) who migrated from Mount Abu to different parts of India.

Five thousand feet above sea-level is Mount Abu, without doubt the most interesting and attractive hill-station within easy reach of Mumbai, Ahmadabad & Udaipur. The railway runs along the foot of the hill and an excellent motor-road links it with Abu Road Railway Station. “The Rajput Olympus” as it is called, has all the amenities of modern life, and the pilgrim combines the pleasures of a mountaineering expedition with the interests of an archaeological excursion. Its bracing climate and its picturesque scenery attract thousands of visitors every year, but the primary interests of the pilgrims are centered round the famous Dilwara temples. There are several sacred and ancient Hindu temples too.

Dilwara Temples, one of the prominent tourist attractions in Mount Abu, are set among ideal surroundings hedged round by verdant hills. The temples, enclosed by high walls and protected by ante-chambers, hide their beauty until the main quadrangles are reached when the sum-total of their loveliness bursts upon us and takes our breath away. Forests of layer upon layer of carvings so ornate, so cunningly executed that the eye fails to grasp the marvels of the craftsmanship. In the center of the domes are pendants so lengthy that they are almost detached from their background and are suggestive of heavy tassels of stillest silken cord suspended by a single thread. The temples, it is said, were built by Jains in honour of Adinath, the first Jain teacher and of Neminath the twenty-second Tirthankara. Built exclusively in marble, the delicacy of their detail and the appropriateness of ornament are held to be unsurpassed. The temple of Vimala Shah was built in the middle of the eleventh century and two centuries later came the Vastupala and Tejpala temples.

Throughout India, mountains and hilltops become the abode of particular gods. In the hills of Rajasthan, there are well-known hilltop goddesses, such as Arbuda Devi (Adhar Devi) and Ambajj (Goddess Durga or Ambika ) at Mount Abu (Arbuda). Not far from Dilwara is Achaleshwar memorable for the imprint of Lord Shiva’s toe. It is said that Lord Shiva thrust his foot through the earth from his shrine at Varanasi “so as to steady Mount Abu when it was a-wobble”. The depth of this hole has never been plumbed, but it is assumed that it extends to ‘patal’, the lowest region of the earth. The highest point in Mount Abu is the Hermit’s Peak whose summit is capped by a little Lord Shiva shrine in true Hindu fashion.

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