Architectural history of Panjrapol Derasars

The essay proposes an architectural timeline of Jain temples in Panjrapol (a Jain neighbourhood), Ahmedabad. The essay focuses on understanding how the city’s intersecting aspects, like the cultural, political, military, urban, and architectural, affected the architecture of derasar. It also explores the significance and potential of Jirnodhar (a religious renovation practice) for studying the architectural evolution of Jain temples. Further, it analyzes and provides propositions for the similarities and differences in the architectural elements of a derasar. Thus, the common notions of the unchanging architecture of temples are abandoned for more textured understandings of diversities in architectural styles in temples.