“Junagadh Girnar temple lottery” usually refers to the historic Girnar Lottery started in the late 1800s, not to any present‑day darshan booking.

What was the Girnar Lottery?

• Time: Around 1888–1889 CE
• Place: Girnar Tirth, Junagadh, Gujarat – a very important Jain tirth of Bhagwan Neminath.
• Problem:

- The stone steps from Taleti (foothill) up to the Jain temples and further towards Ambaji side were badly damaged or missing. - Pilgrims (especially elderly and weak) found it very difficult and unsafe to climb to Girnar Jain temples.

• Main person:

- Haridas Viharidas Desai, the Diwan (chief administrator) of Junagadh State at that time. - He wanted to repair and build proper stone steps for the benefit of all pilgrims.

• Why a “lottery”?

- He first tried to get money from the State treasury but did not get approval. - As an alternative, he organized a public lottery scheme to raise funds for Girnar steps. - People bought lottery tickets; from that money, the steps were built. - Some money was returned to a few ticket holders as prizes (first prize, second prize, etc.).

• Result:

- About 12,000 stone steps were constructed on Girnar. - Even today, pilgrims use these steps to reach the Jain temples of Bhagwan Neminath and other toonks. - So, the physical suvidhā (facility) for Girnar yatra that we enjoy today is largely due to this one fund‑raising effort.

From a Jain dharma point of view

• The purpose was tirth-sevā – to make Girnar yatra easier and safer so that more people can do darshan, pūjā and sādhana.
• The lottery itself was a social/government fund‑raising method, not a religious ritual of Jainism.
• Jain ethics generally discourage gambling and greed, but here the focus in history is on:

- seva for tirth, - public welfare, - and building permanent infrastructure for pilgrims.

Is there any Girnar “temple lottery” today?

• Government lotteries are banned in Gujarat, so that old style “Girnar Lottery” for steps is not running now.
• For darshan, ropeway, yatra arrangements, etc., people now use normal booking systems (online/offline), not a religious lottery.

If you wanted information about current darshan/ropeway ticket booking or a specific Jain mandir scheme, say so and I can explain that separately.