The Solanki dynasty was the golden period for Gujarat, when the authority and prosperity of the State reached their peaks. The credit for putting Gujarat in this position mainly goes to the king’s chancellors and commanders, who were at the helm of affairs. It would be of interest to us to learn that many of the chancellors and some of the commanders of that period were Jains. Vimalsha and Tejpal (of the Vastupal- Tejpal fame) were very capable commanders. However, Vimalsha can be considered outstanding in several respects.

King Mulraj, the founder of the Solanki dynasty, had an advisor named Vir Mahattam. His wife’s name was Virmati. They had three sons named Nedh, Vimal, and Chahil. While they were still very young, their father renounced worldly life and became a monk. Their mother then went to her parents’ place and began to rear her sons with love and care. Nedh was very intelligent and grew up to be a wise and considerate youth. Vimal was bold and smart. He liked horseback riding and archery. He steadily gained expertise in those arts and in due course turned out to be a well-known equestrian and accomplished archer.

As the sons grew older, their mother brought them back to Patan so that they could pursue a career of their choice. In tune to their tastes, Nedh joined the royal court and Vimal joined the army. Both of them quickly began to rise in the ranks and became known for their outstanding capabilities. Since Vimal in particular was handsome and brave, he impressed a multimillionaire of Patan. He had a beautiful daughter named Shridevi. He thought Vimal would be a perfect husband for her daughter. Vimal’s mother Virmati was looking for such an opportunity and gladly accepted the offer. Vimal agreed and Shridevi and Vimal got married.

Luck continued to favor both the brothers even thereafter. During the reign of Bhimdev, who came to the throne in 1021 A.D. Nedh became the chancellor, and Vimal secured the position of the commander. Vimal was thus fortunate to get a beautiful, loving wife and a high military position at a relatively young age. Moreover, because of his amicable nature, he soon won the hearts of everyone and came to be known as Vimalsha.

Some people at the court could not bear the good fortune of Vimalsha. They felt jealous and began to look for his drawbacks. They noticed that Vimalsha would not bow to anyone, not even the king, before offering obeisance to the omniscient Lords. Thereupon, they started telling Bhimdev that Vimalsha was arrogant due to his position and was not even willing to bow to the king. They said that his ambition knew no bounds and he might even try to acquire the throne. Unfortunately, Bhimdev started to believe those courtiers and began to look at Vimalsha with suspicion.

When Vimalsha came to know of the disaffection of Bhimdev, he decided to leave Patan. Accordingly, he went to Abu (which was known as Chandravati) with his followers. There, he noticed that Dhandhuk; the chief of Chandravati was aspiring to become independent. Vimalsha therefore attacked him with the force at his command. Dhandhuk could not stand against him and fled away. Vimalsha thus occupied Chandravati. He had, however, no ambition to become the king. He therefore took possession of Chandravati in the name of Bhimdev and considered himself as the governor of the place.

Vimalsha was now happily passing his days at Chandravati in company with his wife. Shridevi was a very affectionate lady and made him happy in every respect. She had no child. Being religious-minded, however, the couple considered it as the consequence of their unwholesome Karma. Once, they happened to meet Dharmaghosh-suri, who was the well-known Jain Acharya of that time. Vimalsha used to attend his sermons regularly. That made him religiously oriented even more.

As he remembered his war exploits, he felt sorry for his involvement in the violence and sincerely repented. In view of his genuine repentance, the Acharya asked him to construct a temple at Chandraväti and make it a center of pilgrimage, which will help in atonement of the violence caused during the wars. Vimalsha was pleased to hear this suggestion and made up his mind to construct a grand temple.

He was a devotee of Ambika, the goddess in charge of Lord Neminath’s order. He decided to invoke her in order to get her blessing. The goddess was pleased with the earnestness of his worship and asked him what he wanted. He asked for a son and the capability to construct a monumental temple at Chandravati. However, the goddess asked him to select one of the two. Thereupon Vimalsha opted for the temple. Goddess Ambika granted his wish.

Then Vimalsha selected the site of the temple for the project on the top of a mountain and bought the land for 45,360,000 gold coins. The foundation stone was laid with a deep faith. However, it was not easy to construct the temple. It was a Herculean task. Artisans were not locally available, there was no road leading from the foot to the top of the mountain, and marble had to be brought from a great distance. Vimalsha was, however, determined to complete the project at any cost. He made all the necessary arrangements for transportation of materials to the top and hired the best sculptors of the country for carrying out the work.

All possible care was taken to see that the artisans did not face any difficulty and the project did not encounter any problem. It took 14 long years to finish the project and the temple was constructed at the  cost of 185,300, 000 gold coins. The opening ceremony was performed with great fanfare and enthusiasm under the tutelage of Dharmaghosh-suri, Vardhamansuri, and other Acharyas.

It is a spacious all marble temple. There are highly artistic figures in its domes, arcs, and panels. Very lively damsels have been carved out on its decorative pillars and many other places. The sculpture is exquisite. Every part of the decorative figures and the limbs and gestures of the damsels are presented with the utmost precision. It would be nearly impossible to bring out that sort of accuracy even in wax. The fact that the artists have done it on the marble stones is marvelous and draws the instantaneous admiration of every visitor. That type of sculpture is not found anywhere else in the world. It is said that Vimalsha paid to the artists as much gold in weight as they turned out the stone powder during the carving. This temple has
immortalized his name. It is virtually a wonder of the world.

Later on, Vimalsha led a Sangh to Shatrunjay (the mountain in Palitänä town) that cost 40 million gold coins. He constructed Vimalvasahi temple there. That is located on the way to the main complex on the hill. It is a small but equally exquisite temple. It is popularly known as Bhulbhulamani, meaning a maze. He also constructed the well-known temples of Kumbharia on the Arasur hill on the northern border of Gujarat. Moreover, he is credited with the construction of a beautiful temple at Patan.

One successful but highly instructive anecdote is associated with his later life. It is said that once Shridevi happened to have a dream in which she saw a goddess. The goddess asked her to go to her temple along with her husband on a specific date at midnight and ask for whatever they wanted. Both of them were eager to get a son and went to the place to express their wish. While they were waiting for the midnight, they felt thirsty. Vimalsha therefore went to an adjoining well to fetch water. Inside the well, there were steps, which went all the way down to level of the water. He went down the steps and as he was going to get some water, someone asked him to pay the toll for the water. Vimalsha was amazed to listen to that and asked the person who he was to demand the toll. The guy replied that he was a descendent of the person who had built the well. Since he was now without any resource, he was collecting toll for using the well.

Vimalsha was taken aback to hear that. He asked himself, “What would happen if someone of my own descendents one day tries to collect toll for the temple that I have built?” He shuddered at the idea and again asked himself whether it would be better in that case to remain without child. He went up and told his wife about that. She concurred with his thinking. At midnight when the goddess asked them what they wanted, Shridevi replied that she wanted to remain childless. Now, it was the turn for the goddess to be taken aback. She asked whether Shridevi was in her senses. Vimalsha then narrated what he had experienced and said that they really wanted to remain childless. That wish was accordingly granted to them.