Chandravati Jain Temple (Chandrapuri)

On the quiet, reed-fringed banks of the Ganga about 23 kilometres north-west of Varanasi city, the village of Chandrawati — historically Chandrapuri — cradles one of Jainism's most sacred birthplaces.

• This is the janma-bhoomi of Bhagwan Chandraprabhu, the eighth Tirthankara of the present age, said in Jain tradition to have been born here to King Mahasena and Queen Lakshmana Devi of the Ikshvaku clan on the twelfth day of Paush Krishna.
• The site is rare among tirths because four of the five great Kalyanakas (auspicious life-events) of Chandraprabhu — his conception, birth, renunciation and attainment of omniscience — are believed to have unfolded on this very soil, making it a place of unusually concentrated spiritual merit for pilgrims of both the Digambar and Shwetambar traditions, each of whom maintains a temple here side by side.
• The living faith at Chandrawati rests on deep antiquity. In 1877 the archaeologist A. C. L.
• Carlleyle excavated the mound and unearthed the remnants of three Jain temples whose sculptural style points to the 9th and 10th centuries; copper-plate charters and inscriptions recovered here — including a 1091 CE grant of King Chandradeva of the Gahadavala dynasty — are today preserved in the State Museum, Lucknow.
• The present twin shrines are 19th-20th century reconstructions raised by the respective Jain communities over this ancient foundation.
• Within the Digambar temple a luminous white-marble image of Chandraprabhu, roughly 45 cm high, is enshrined in the meditative Padmasana posture, its cool serenity mirroring the moon (chandra) after which the Tirthankara is named.
• In 2026 the Uttar Pradesh government neared completion of a large eco-friendly three-tier riverside ghat here, reviving Chandrawati as a dignified stop on Kashi's Jain circuit.
• Reaching Chandrawati is itself a gentle journey out of the city's clamour: a taxi or auto along NH-19 through the farmland of Cholapur, or, for the devout, a slow boat up the Ganga to a landing near the temple.
• Because it lies well outside the tourist core, the tirth is calm and uncrowded for most of the year, swelling only around the Chandraprabhu Janma Kalyanak in Paush (December-January) and the spring fair.
• A pilgrim dharamshala and canteen serve visitors on site.
• For vegetarian travellers this is effortlessly comfortable ground.
• Jain temples observe the strictest sattvic, wholly vegetarian and alcohol-free discipline, and the on-site Jain bhojanshala serves simple pure-veg thali food to pilgrims — no onion, garlic, egg or intoxicant ever crosses the threshold.
• Carry your own water and snacks for the drive, as roadside options thin out beyond Cholapur.
• Back in Varanasi city, trusted pure-veg institutions such as Ksheer Sagar in Sonarpura and Kashi Chat Bhandar at Godowlia round out the day.
• One honest caution unrelated to this temple: in Varanasi's old-city lanes, some lassi and thandai shops lace their drinks with bhang (cannabis) — always ask specifically for plain lassi.