Margaon

Śrī Sumatinātha Jaina Mandir

Śvetāmbara Jaina families have settled in Goa with their prominent Śrī Sumatinātha Jaina Mandir opened in 2000 in Margaon. The temple was constructed by the Rajasthani Marwari community of Goa. In 2000, this group consisted of about forty to forty-five extended families, all based in the commercial centre of Margaon. The Śrī Sumatinātha Jaina Mandir has been constructed on three floor levels. It has entirely been clad in white marble, has been decorated with cusped flying arches, a small octagonal balcony and has western Indian roof elements at the upper edge of the construction. The temple has shrines on the ground floor, the first storey and also on a further third level above. The icon of Sumatinātha on the first floor is twenty years old and long predates the construction of this very recent temple.  In most domestic house type temples, the ground floor is only used for storage or as communal space, for the celebration of festivals or events in the Jaina community. Because at Margaon two flanking building extensions also belong to the same temple complex, which provide ample space for communal assembly halls, accommodation and temple offices, a spatial configuration with three superimposed shrines could be realised.