Virawah Pari Nagar Jain Temple – Pakistan

Address

Virawah Pari Nagar Jain Temple – Virawah, Tharparkar, Sindh, Pakistan

Diety

Trithankaras

Introduction

The Jain temple of the deserted village Pari Nagar is situated at contemporary site of Virawah about 10 km north of Nagarparkar in district Tharparkar, Sindh province of Pakistan. The site was a seaport in ancient times, but due to geological changes the shoreline moved to southwest and the contemporary place of Virawah is about 200 km away from the sea. Pari Nagar was established as a seaport in 500 BC once there were about 800 Jain families in Pari Nagar but after Pakistan achieved independence in 1947 they migrated to India and took many statues with them. Initially there were six Jain temples in the area but today only the Virawah temple is preserved. The building consists of two rooms having a large hall called mandapa besides a small, dark chamber called vehana. These rooms have lost their glory with the passage of time and most of the sculptures and paintings have been defaced or are lost. Despite the fact that the temple is in bad shape due to a host of factors, it is an unfinished example of building art.