Pali District Overview :

Pali with its glorious historical back ground, traces its origin right back to the age of the Mahabharata. It is said to have been a part of baalla desh, a democratic state of the then Arbuda province. The legendary Chinese traveller Huen-Tsang in his memoirs mentions that Pali, in 667 A.D., was part of then Gurjar Desh and was administered by local bodies. Before the formation of Rajasthan Pali was the part of erstwhile Marwar state. The district as it exists today is linked to the surrounding districts by means of the Aravalli hills. 

Demographics :

According to the 2011 census Pali district has a population of 2,038,533, roughly equal to the nation of Slovenia or the US state of New Mexico.This gives it a ranking of 225th in India (out of a total of 640).The district has a population density of 165 inhabitants per square kilometre (430/sq mi) .Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 11.99%. Pali has a sex ratio of 987 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 63.23%.

History :

Pali with its glorious historical back ground traces its origins in the Mahabharata age from 'baalla desh', a democratics' state of the then Arbuda province. The legendary Chinese traveller Huen-Tsang in his memoirs mentions that Pali, in 667 A.D., was part of then Gurjar Desh and was administered by local bodies. Geologists trace the existence of Pali to the pre-historic age, and hold that it has emerged from the vast western sea spread over a large part of the present day Rajasthan. The area was ruled by the King Harshavardhana of the Chalukya dynasty till about the end of the 7th century. Rajput rulers from all over India started focussing their reigns in this area after the Arab invasion of Sind. During the period from 10th to 15th century, the boundaries of Pali extended to adjoining Mewar, Godwad and Marwar. All Rajput rulers resisted the foreign invaders but individually fought for each other's land and leadership. 16th and 17th century saw a number of battles in the surrounding areas of Pali. By then Pali had become subservient to the Rathores of Marwar state. Pali was rehabilitated by Maharaja Vijay Singh and soon it became an important commercial centre. Under British rule Pali played an important role by pioneering the freedom struggle in Marwar. Various Thakurs of Pali under the stewardship of Thakur of Auwa, who was the most powerful of all, confronted the British rule. Before the formation of Rajasthan Pali was a part of erstwhile Marwar state. 

Geography :

The Aravalli Range forms the eastern boundary of the district; the southern boundary ends at Bamnera village in Sumerpur Tehsil. A zone of foothills lies to the west, through which run the many tributaries of the Luni River. The western portion of the district includes the alluvial plain of the Luni. It is bounded by eight districts, Nagaur District to the north, Ajmer District to the northeast, Rajsamand District to the east, Udaipur District to the southeast, Sirohi District to the southwest, Jalore District and Barmer District to the west, and Jodhpur District to the northwest. The major part of the district has elevations ranging from 200 to 300 m above mean sea level, but in the east—toward the Aravalli Range—the elevation increases and the average is nearer 600 m and at some places the elevations exceed 1000 m.

Economy :

Agricultural activities of Pali district are mostly dependent on monsoon. Although the district has a lot of irrigation dams, ponds etc., yet more then 50 percent of the farmers are dependent on monsoon. Most of the farmers obtain two crops i.e. Kharif and Rabi. Rabi crops are usually sown in November whereas Kharif crops are sown with the beginning of the first rains in July. Kharif crops include bajra, jowar, moong, rice, groundnut, red chillies etc. Pali is famous for its textile industries. Cottonand synthetic clothes and yarn were exported to other states of India at a very cheap rate. Some new industries have also been developed like marble cutting, marble finishing etc. One of the biggest composite textile mills of India ' Maharaja Shri Umaid mills' (Estd. in the year 1940) is also situated at Pali. Main production of this mill is cotton, Hank yarn etc. which is used for preparing different cloths. Besides this, many more industries are situated at different areas of Pali district i.e. lather based industries, agriculture instruments, chemical based, cement industry, minerals based units like stone crashers etc. 

Architecture :

Ranakpur Jain Temple - Ranakpur is a village located in Desuri Tehsil near Sadri town in the Pali District of Rajasthan in western India. It is located between Jodhpur and Udaipur, in a valley on the western side of the Aravalli Range. The Ranakpur Jain Temples command huge respect from the Jain community worldwide. Built during the rule of Rana Kumbha, these temples have included Ranakpur in the list of five main pilgrim destinations of Jains in India. History has it that Rana Kumbha donated a vast stretch of land to Dhanna Shah so as to enable him to realise his dream of building a great temple. Today, these temples attract thousands of visitors every year from across the country and abroad.

Places of interest :

Ranakpur :

Ranakpur village is home to important Jain temples. Over 400 marble pillars support the temple. Opposite the Jain temple is the much older Sun Temple. Temples of Ranakpur present a distinct style of their own. The ceilings of the temples are adorned with foliate scrollwork and geometric patterns. The top and bottom part of the domes are joined by Brackets with figures of deities on them. The most important amongst all the temples within the complex is the Chaumukha Temple. Dedicated to the first Jain Tirthankara, Adinath, it is a four faced temple which has a basement of 48,000 square feet (4,500 m2). The temple boasts of four subsidiary shrines, 24 pillared halls and 80 domes standing on the support of nearly 400 columns (the total number of columns in the temple complex, however, is much larger, around 1444). Each of the columns is richly carved and no two columns have the same design. Moreover, the columns change colour from golden to pale blue with the passage of every hour during the day.

Jain Temple, Nana :

This place is associated with Jainism, where the life-size image of Mahavira was once worshipped. Nanavala or Jnanakiya gachchha (Jain saint community) was founded at Nanea by Prabhananda.Village Nana is also described in ancient Jain books. It is called as "NANA Diyana Nandiya...Jiwit Mahavir Swami Vihariya. Can see ancient Jain temple of Lord Mahavir. It is said that this temple is around 2600 years old. This idol is 120 cm in height. Recently Shree Munisuvrat Swami temple is also established on 16 May 2013 by huge make over.

Shri Rata Mahaveer Jain Tirth :

Shri Rata Mahaveer Jain Tirth or Hathundi Teerth was built in year 313 . This temple has Bhagwan Mahaveer Swami as its primary deity. This idol is made of bricks, sand and calcium, having sanguine (Rata) red colour and hence also called as Rata Mahaveerji.iNavlakha Parshwanath Jain Temple :

The Jain temple is in the main city. Rs 9 lakhs were spent on raising the temple in 912. It is said that the assumed cost of ghee was Rs. nine lakhs and the money later used for developing this temple, which later on called as Navlakha temple. Moolnayak of this temple is a White coloured idol of Navlakha Parshwanath in the Padmasana posture. This temple belongs to Shwetambar Sect. of Jainism. Dharamshala (Lodging) and Bhojanshala (Food) facilities are available.

Jain temples :

Apart from Ranakpur has also famous Jain temples of Shri Varkana Parswanath Jain Tirth, Muchhal Mahavir Temple, Ghanerao, Shri Narlai Jain Tirth, Shri Nadol Jain Tirth, Shri Shantinath Jain Temple Sumer, Shri Chintamani Parswanath & Shri Shankheshwar Parswanath Bagol, Shri Astapadh Jain Tirth Rani, Shri Takhatgarh Jain Tirth, Shri Korthaji tirth at Bamnera, Shri Manmohan Parshvanath jinalaya Banta, Falna Swarn Temple, Sanderao Jain Temple, Khimel Jain Temple.

Jawai dam :

Jawai Dam is one of the biggest dams in western Rajasthan. It is situated in Sumerpur Tehsil, Pali district, and has a capacity of 6000 million cubic feet. Jawai Dam is a good tourist spot.

Parshuram Mahadev Temple :

Parshuram Mahadev Temple is in Desuri Tehsil and situated on the top of one of the hills of Aravalli. This is the famous temple of lord Shiva made by Parshuram with his axe. The temple is 14 km away from Sadri Town of Pali.

Om Banna :

The Sacred temple (than) of Om Banna is 20 km away from the city on the Jodhpur-Pali highway. This is the site where Om Banna died in a road accident. The motorbike of Om Banna is kept there for devotional worship.

Aai Mata Ji Temple :

There are famous temples of Shri Aai Mata jiDham called as Jekalji dham in Narlai and Shree Aai mataji temple called as Shree Jijivad Dham, Dailana where A Jyoti has a continuous flame which produces Kesar (a saffron coloured soot) instead of Kajal (carbon black). Most of the followers of Aai Mata ji are members of the Seervi community.

Nimbo Ka Nath Mahadev Temple :

Nimbo Ka Nath Mahadev Temple is situated on Falna to Sanderao route. There is a myth which says that pandavas stayed here with mother Kunti during the exile. Kunti used to worship Shiva at this place.

Lawaji maharaj ka temple :

Lawaji maharaj ka temple is situated on Sojat city to Marwar junction route, near to Khariya Sodha village.There is a myth which says Lawaji maharaj ( a Kshatriya warrior) sacrificed his life to saving the animals, such as cows.

Other places :

Pali district has other tourist attractions such as Jadan Ashram, Bangur Museum, Lakhotia Garden, Manpura Bhakhari, and Maharana Pratap Smarak. Jadan Ashram is situated in Marwar Junction Tehsil of Pali district and is hardly 20 km from Pali and is famous for its '?' (Om-sacred syllable among Hindus) shape building.

Fairs :

Shri Sonana Khetlaji's, at Aana Fair, Parshurama Mahadevji's Fair and Nimbo ka nath (Nimbeshwar Mahadev)'s fair are important fairs held in the district.