Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan had invited Agrawal Jain merchants to come and settle in the city of Delhi and granted them some land in the Chandni Chowk near Dariba Gali. It is said that the genesis of a Jain temple occurred when the Agrawal Jain community- acquired three marble idols and got them installed by Jivaraj Papriwal under the supervision of Bhattaraka Jinachandra in Samvat 1548 (1491 AD) in the tent of a Jain officer of the Mughal army. The statues slowly started to attract other Jain army officers, and later, a Jain temple was constructed at the site in 1656. However, the Mughal Emperors did not permit them to make a temple tower or a Shikhara atop the temple. The temple at that time was also known by different names such as "Urdu temple" as it was located in an area called the ‘Urdu Bazaar’ and the ‘Lashkari Mandir’ as it was inside  an army camp or a laskhar. The present-day temple buildings were constructed after the fall of ... More

Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan had invited Agrawal Jain merchants to come and settle in the city of Delhi and granted them some land in the Chandni Chowk near Dariba Gali. It is said that the genesis of a Jain temple occurred when the Agrawal Jain community- acquired three marble idols and got them installed by Jivaraj Papriwal under the supervision of Bhattaraka Jinachandra in Samvat 1548 (1491 AD) in the tent of a Jain officer of the Mughal army. The statues slowly started to attract other Jain army officers, and later, a Jain temple was constructed at the site in 1656. However, the Mughal Emperors did not permit them to make a temple tower or a Shikhara atop the temple. The temple at that time was also known by different names such as "Urdu temple" as it was located in an area called the ‘Urdu Bazaar’ and the ‘Lashkari Mandir’ as it was inside  an army camp or a laskhar. The present-day temple buildings were constructed after the fall of the Mughal Empire, around the year 1878. The attractive red sandstone temple underwent many alterations and additions and was enlarged but a Shikhara was only added after 1947 when India achieved its independence.