Sonagiri Temples

Sonagiri, the golden mountain, known in older texts as Swarnagiri, is a Digambara Jain pilgrimage place in the Datia district of central India. White temples have covered its hill from the 800s onward; seventy-seven shrines stand on the hill and more than a hundred belong to the whole tirth.

Jain tradition holds that the eighth Tirthankara Chandraprabha seventeen times held his Samavasarana, the divine preaching assembly, here. The acharya Shubh Chandra and the sage Bhartrihari are said to have practised austerities, attained nirvana and composed religious works here.

The principal shrine is temple number fifty-seven, which houses an eleven-foot image of Chandraprabha called Bade Baba, with a column of honour and a model of the Samavasarana. Pilgrims gather each spring for the chariot festival after Holi and the replacement of the golden flag on the main spire.