Kothara, Kutch
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Kothara
| native_name =
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| settlement_type = Village
| image_skyline = Main Gate to Kothara.JPG
| image_alt =
| image_caption = Main Gate of Kothara
| pushpin_map = India Gujarat#India
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Gujarat, India
| coordinates = {{coord|23.134|N|68.936|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1 = State
| subdivision_name1 = Gujarat
| subdivision_type2 = District
| subdivision_name2 = Kachchh
| established_title =
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| founder = Godaji
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| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
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| population_density_km2 = auto
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| demographics_type1 = Languages
| demographics1_title1 = Official
| demographics1_info1 = Gujarati, Hindi
| timezone1 = IST
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type =
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| registration_plate =GJ
| blank1_name_sec1 = Nearest Big Village
| blank1_info_sec1 = Naliya
| website = {{URL|gujaratindia.com}}
| footnotes =
}}
Kothara is a village and a Jain pilgrimage center located in Abdasa Taluka of Kutch district of Gujarat, India.
History
Kothara was an estate (jagir) founded during the reign of Godaji (1715-1718), when Godaji, the ruler of Cutch State, gave the Mundra estate to his brethren Haloji. Haloji founded towns of Kothara, Kotri and Nagrachi.[http://www.kutchforever.com/History.aspx?catalog=08 He resumed certain crown grants, e. g., the estate of Mundra given to Haloji, the son of Pragmalji’s eldest brother Noghanji, Kanthi and Anjari Chovisi. Haloji, unable to oppose, retired to Abdasa and there founded the towns of Kothara, Kotri and Nagarchi.]
In the past, the village had a sizeable community of traders who lived in Zanzibar and Mumbai. The village has several houses with rich architecture, which belonged to these traders.{{cite book|title=Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Cutch, Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dLUBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA210|year=1880|publisher=Printed at the Government Central Press|pages=231–232}}
Geology
Kothara lies in hot, arid and dry region of Kutch. The Arabian Sea is on its west and Rann of Kutch on north.
Connectivity
Shantinath Jain temple
{{Main|Shantinath Jain temple, Kothara}}
File:Shri Shantinath Jain Derasar, Kothara, Kutch.JPG
The Jain temple dedicated to Shantinath, the sixteenth Tirthankara, was completed in 1861 (1918 V.S.) which was considered the richest temple of Kutch then. The temple cost £40,000, one-half was given by Shah Velji Malu and the other in equal shares by Shah Keshavji Nayak and Shivji Nensi; Osval Vanias of Kothara. The Shantinath statue was formally installed by Acharya Ratnasagarsuri of Achal Gacchha. This temple is also named ‘Kalyan Tunk’. This chief temple is compared to the Meruprabha temple. Also, this temple is a pilgrimage for the Jain community. It has a rich heritage, Jain community performs the pooja at this temple. People from the different parts of the country visit this temple.{{Cite web |url=http://www.jinalaya.com/gujarat/kothara.htm |title=Kothara Tirth |access-date=15 May 2011 |archive-date=3 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303140056/https://www.jinalaya.com/gujarat/kothara.htm |url-status=dead }}[https://www.panoramio.com/photo/9203428 Shri Kothara Derasar @ the Kothara Naliaya of Abadasa Kutch.]
Through a very rich two-storied entrance gate, an outer yard surrounded by buildings set apart for the use of priests, opens into a walled quadrangle with a shrine in each wall. The domed hall, mandap rises in two stories, and over the shrine is a spire with richly carved figure niches and moldings. Inside, the hall, mandap, surrounded by aisles or verandahs, with a richly designed pavement of different coloured marbles, has twenty-two pilasters, and sixteen pillars, and a dome supported on eight pillars with foiled arches and struts. Inside of a wall, chiefly formed of twenty pillars richly carved with flowers, leaves and creepers, is the shrine; where, supported on either side by seven small figures, is a large image of Shantinath crowned with a golden crown, and seated cross-legged on a richly carved marble throne. The upper story of the hall, reached by stone steps from the south-west porches, has a corridor with rich shrines each containing a large marble sitting image.{{cite web |url=http://www.jinalaya.com/gujarat/kothara.htm |title=www.Jinalaya.com - Shri Kothara Tirth - Jain Temples in Gujarat |website=www.jinalaya.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060112140009/http://www.jinalaya.com/gujarat/kothara.htm |archive-date=2006-01-12}} Below the hall there is an underground shrine, with about twenty-five large white marble figures with precious stones let into the eyes, chests, and arms.
Gallery
Entrance to Jain Temple.JPG|Entrance to Shantinath Jain Temple
Inside the Jain Temple - Colourful and artistic.JPG|Inside the Jain Temple
Carving outside Jain Temple.JPG|Carving on walls
File:Picturesque of Lord.JPG|Picturesque inside temple dome.
File:Late Shri Kunvarji Narshi Lodaya (Patel).jpg| Kunvarji Narshi Lodaya - local philanthropist.
References
{{Reflist}}
- This article incorporates Public Domain text from {{cite book|title=Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Cutch, Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dLUBAAAAYAAJ|year=1880|publisher=Printed at the Government Central Press|pages=231–232}} ([https://archive.org/stream/cu31924070623537/cu31924070623537_djvu.txt Scanned text] at archive.org)
{{Abdasa Taluka}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Villages in Kutch district
Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1862