Rakhabh Dev

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This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.

Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.

Rakhabh Dev

Walled village in the Magra zila of the State of Udaipur, Rajputana, situated in 24 5' N. and 73 42' E., in the midst of hills, about 40 miles south of Udaipur city, and 10 miles north-east of the cantonment of Kherwara. Population (1901), 2,174. A small school here, originally started for the benefit of the Bhils, is attended by about 40 boys, half of whom are of this tribe. Serpentine of a dull green colour is quarried in the neighbourhood, and worked into effigies and vessels of domestic use, which are sold to the numerous pilgrims who visit the place. The famous Jam temple, sacred to Admath or Rakhabhnath, is annually visited by thousands of pilgrims from all parts of Rajputana and Gujarat.

It is difficult to determine the age of this building, but three inscriptions mention that it was repaired in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The principal image is of black marble and is in a sitting posture about three feet in height } it is said to have been brought from Gujarat towards the end of the thirteenth century, Hindus, as well as Jains, worship the divinity, the former regarding him as one of the incarnations of Vishnu and the latter as one of the twenty-four Tirthankars or hierarchs of Jainism. The BhTls call him Kalaji, from the colour of the image, and have great faith in him. Another name is Kesaryajl, from the saffron (kesar) with which pilgrims besmear the idol. Every votary is entitled to wash off the paste applied by a previous worshipper, and in this way saffron worth thousands of rupees is offered to the god annually.

[Indian Antiquary \ vol. i.]