Osian Things to Do

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The link below provides a sketch for the importance of Osian as a religious center during a Mewar dynasty, between the 8th and 11th centuries. The Jain temple that I visited was clearly quite old but originally built with considerable skill and resources. Osian is in the desert, and so it surprised me to see such elaborate architecture here. The entrance colonnade is particularly interesting as a labyrinth entrance to a temple complex that sits within a courtyard, but I had a hard time capturing them on film as the bright sun contrasted so much with the deep shade stripes. The temple complex itself comprises of a large building in the center surrounded by a patio area that is borderd by additional buildings, some of which have colonnades, as shown in the first photo. The elaborate stone chiseled artwork is marvelous. These images are digitally enhanced to better show the artistic details.

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The popularly used Hindu Temple in Osian is also worth visiting particularly when worshipers are around. We paid some kind of small fee here, as I recall, but in general were free to look around and take a few discrete photos. The entrance to the popular Hindu temple was up some steep stairs and under a series of decorative arches. The interior had many ornately chisels reliefes and columns.