Largest Monolith in the World is here in India

Travellers trail past these breathtaking sculptures, carved out of the huge rocks, but barely do people notice the magnificent art.

I too couldn’t soak in the view or admire the laborious work of art, as the skies were thundering and raining the day I visited.

Magnificent Jain  Tirthankar idols, stand on Urwahi road on Gopachal Hill, a little away from the limelight of “pearl amongst forts” Gwalior Fort. These were commissioned during the reign of Tomar Kings — Viramdev, Dungar Singh and Kirti Singh.

The grandest monolith is of Parshvanath, almost 47 ft tall and 30 ft in breadth, sitting in padmasan on a lotus flower. It is the largest in the world.

Sculptures of Jain tirthankars, in the niches of rain-soaked Gopachal Hill. Some of them, as seen above were destroyed by the Mughal king Babur

 

There are some 26 splendid caves, to visit. There could have been many more to see, had it not been for Mughal King Babur who got many of them destroyed.

The erstwhile princely state of Gwalior is a weekend trip from Delhi and is sprinkled with it all – culture, music, history and monuments.

Colossal sculptures of Jain tirthankars, in the caves of rain-soaked Gopachal Hill