PALITANA, a native state within the British Political Agency of Kattyawar, in the Bombay Presidency, lying between lat. 21° 23' 30" and 21° 42' 30" N., and long. 71° 31' and 72° 0' 30" E. ; area, 99 square miles. Satrunjaya bill, which rises above the town of Palitana, is covered with Jain temples, and is the resort of innumerable pilgrims, for whom a fixed sum is paid yearly by the Sra wak community to the Palitana chief. It is sacred to Adinath, and each temple contains images in marble of Adinath, or of some of the Tirthankara; and perhaps no fabric of human workmanship in India is more calculated to arouse wonder, ad miration, and lasting remembrance, than Palitana in its unique and mysterious perfection. Satrunjaya rises nearly 2000 feet, and is between 2 and 3 miles in ascent, taking the sinuosities of the route into account. At the foot of the ascent there are steps with many little canopies or cells, a foot and a half to three feet square, open only in front, and each having in its floor a marble slab carved with the representation of the soles of two feet (charan).
Higher up is a small temple of the Hindu monkey god, Hanuman. Still higher is the shrine of Hengar, a Musalman pir. The top of the hill consists of two ridges, each about 350 yards long. The buildings on both ridges, again, are divided into separate enclosures, called tuk, generally containing one principal temple, with varying numbers of smaller ones. Each of these enclosures is protected by strong gates and walls, and all gates are carefully closed at sundown. The principal temple of the Khartarvasi tuk is that of the Chaumukh or four-faced' Jaina, occupying the centre. It stands on a platform 2 feet above the level of the court, and 57 feet wide by about 67 in length. Over this rises the tower or vimana to a height of 96 feet from the level of the pave ment.—Imp. Gaz. See Architecture ; Pagoda ; Sculpture.