Jain Sculptures

   From the Urwahi gate, a long and gradually ascending road goes past a cliff face with Jain sculptures. Jainism existed in this region prior to the rule of Mughals. When Emperor Babur visited the fort in 1527, he saw these enormous statues and made a mention of them in his diary. "They have hewn the solid rock and sculpted out of it idols, which may be about 20 gaz (13m). These figures are perfectly naked without even a rag to cover the parts of generation." Offended by the nudity, Babur ordered that the faces and genitals be defaced. While the faces were later repaired, the genitals were never restored. The images are in five main groups and are numbered. In the Arwahi group, image 20, which is 7m high, is of tirthankar (revered teacher or saint) Adinath, while image 22, which is 10m high, is of Nemnath, the 22^nd Jain tirthankar. The southeastern group occupies nearly 1 km. of the cliff face and has 20 images.