Jal Mandir Pawapuri, Nalanda - Aradhye Ackshatt

In the center of a charming lake in the quaint little town of Pawapuri in Bihar sits the sparkling white Jal Mandir, or Water Temple. Whether you visit it by day or night, its unique setting and calm surroundings will mesmerize your eyes, soothe your soul, and encourage inner peace.

When we [meaning myself, my wife, my infant girl, and my in-laws] visited Jal Mandir at the start of December, we found many busloads of Jain devotees visiting the venerated site. It was to be expected, since the Kartik Amavasya had recently passed. The funeral rituals of Lord Mahavira, Jainism’s founder, were held near this date in the lunar calendar, which was [and still is] followed by pious Indians. We were lucky, since the temple was bedecked with flowers and decorations from top to bottom. Recording my travel vlog amid such a vibrantly colorful setting delighted me!

The religious underpinning of this magnificent marvel explains its situation within a water body. It is believed that when Lord Mahavira’s funeral ended, devotees took away huge amounts of ash that they considered holy, leaving an immense pit. That pit was restructured into the lotus-filled reservoir we enjoy today, by none other than Mahavira’s elder brother, King Nandivardhan.

Access to the temple is via a walkway over the lake. This walk itself is a truly remarkable experience, as the water stretching out on both sides imparts a feeling of being on a much larger water body. Lined by white globes of light at night, the spectacle becomes completely bewildering when you enter the gate of the temple. I recommend walking around the temple before venturing inside to pay your respects to the charan paduka, or footstep impressions, of the deity. Whether it is the remnants of a divine presence or the residuals of mortal remains, this place’s charm puts one’s mind at ease, as I noted when I began this short travel-related treatise.

Even though the Jal Mandir is a treat in itself, there are multiple other places of interest - or, to put it politically correctly, worship - in Pawapuri. When you learn that the meaning of this town’s name is ‘place without sins,’ it makes total sense! There is another immense Jain temple being built right opposite the entrance to the 600-foot walkway to the Jal Mandir. To my untrained eye, it seemed to be constructed with white marble, similar to the Water Temple, but I may be wrong.

We began our drive back towards the turnoff from the main Patna-Nawada highway [barely a couple of kilometers] with a replenished heart and cleansed mind, not just from the cool water, but also from the metaphysical energy that seemed to radiate from this holy and welcoming site.