There are a few legends connected with these temples. One story goes that when Vimal Shah set out to build the first temple here the local Saivite Hindu community was in possession of the land and refused to hand it over to the Jains. It was only after Vimal Shah was able to prove that it had once belonged to the Jain community, that the Hindus relented. Vimal Shah said that he had a dream, in which goddess Ambika (Ambadevi or Durga) instructed him to dig under a champak tree at Dilwara. Upon digging a huge image of Adinatha was found here. Thus he was successful in proving his point and won the land for the Jain community.

Other stories say that the minister Tejapala rewarded the artisans in pure gold and silver for the floral finish that is seen on the ceiling. Thus if an artisan chiselled 20 tons of marble, he would be rewarded with 20 tons of pure gold. This motivated them to do as much fine work ... More

There are a few legends connected with these temples. One story goes that when Vimal Shah set out to build the first temple here the local Saivite Hindu community was in possession of the land and refused to hand it over to the Jains. It was only after Vimal Shah was able to prove that it had once belonged to the Jain community, that the Hindus relented. Vimal Shah said that he had a dream, in which goddess Ambika (Ambadevi or Durga) instructed him to dig under a champak tree at Dilwara. Upon digging a huge image of Adinatha was found here. Thus he was successful in proving his point and won the land for the Jain community.

Other stories say that the minister Tejapala rewarded the artisans in pure gold and silver for the floral finish that is seen on the ceiling. Thus if an artisan chiselled 20 tons of marble, he would be rewarded with 20 tons of pure gold. This motivated them to do as much fine work as possible.

Yet another interesting tale is about the two wives of the two ministers who got the temples made here. There was a rivalry between the wife of the younger minister or the ‘Devrani’ and the wife of the older man, the ‘Jethani’. They wanted to make sure that the marble structures made under their supervision were prettier than the others. The dispute was solved by a clever artisan who made two identical marble structures with just a small difference that tilted the scales in favour of the older lady, thereby preserving the family hierarchy as well.