Bhinmal(भीनमाल)
—  city  —
Bhinmal(भीनमाल) Location of Bhinmal(भीनमाल) in Rajasthan and India
Coordinates	25°00′N 72°15′E / 25.0°N 72.25°E / 25.0; 72.25Coordinates: 25°00′N 72°15′E / 25.0°N 72.25°E / 25.0; 72.25
Country	India
State	Rajasthan
District(s)	Jalor
MLA(Member of Rajasthan state assy	Pura Ram Choudhary
Population	39,278 (2001[update])
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 146 metres (479 ft)
Codes • Pincode • 343029 • Telephone • +912969 • Vehicle • RJ-16

Bhinmal (भीनमाल) is a town in the Jalore District of Rajasthan, India. It is 72 km south of Jalore town. The name Bhinmal is derived from the word Shrimal.Bhinmal was old capital of the kingdom of the Gurjars (or Gujjars) during medieval period.^[1]

The town is the birth place of the Sanskrit poet Magha and mathematician and astronomer Brahmagupta.

History [link]

Bhinmal Railway Station

Bhinmal was the early capital of the kingdom of the Gurjars during medieval period.^[2] The name of the town during the medieval age was Bhillamal (भीलमल). Hiuen Tsang visited Bhillamal (Bhinmal) in about 641 AD. According to Hiuen Tsang Bhillamala was capital of Gurjara kingdom. He stated that the Gurjars ruled a rich and populous kingdom with capital at Bhinmal (Pilo-mo-lo).^[3]

This city has witnessed many rises and falls. Stone inscriptions of the year 1333 of the Vikrama Samvat(1277 AD) are found among ruins of temples. There are signs here and there showing that Lord Mahavira Swami, the 24th Jain Tirthankar wandered about here. They can provide historical evidence to researchers. The King of the place was a Kshatriya, celebrated for his wisdom and virtue, a believer in Buddhism and a man of exceptional abilities. He was just twenty years old. The people of the place were flourishing. Brahmanism dominated the city. There was only one Buddhist monastery with 100 brothers.

Ala ud din Khilji also destroyed Srimala when he conquered Jalore in 1310 AD. Before that Srimala was a premier city of northern India. The city was laid out in the shape of a square. It has 84 gates. The mid-15th century chronicle Kanhadade Prabandha provide description of many Islamic attacks on Bhinmal.

There were several temples of Jain Tirthankar and Hindu god-Ganapatis, Kshetrapalas, Chandikadevis, Shivalingas and others. The temple of Bhinmal known as Jagatsvami was one of the earliest and most famous temples of Rajasthan. The temple had beautiful torana (archway). The temple was perhaps built during the reign of Gurjara Pratiharas who were sun worshippers. A festival was held at temple in the Hindu calendar month of Asvin.

There were a number of Jain temples too, temple of Mahavira being the most famous. In ancient time this temple was built by king Kumarpal and established by Acharya Hemachandra, dedicated to 1st Jain Tirthankar Lord Rishabha dev, currently this is dedicated to 24th Jain Tirthankar Lord Mahavira.

Bhinmal was a great centre of learning. The scholars of Srimala were known far and wide for their scholarship and learning. The well known Sanskrit poet Magha, the author of Sisupalavadha also lived here in 680 AD. Brahmagupta was born in 598 AD in Bhinmal. He is likely to have lived most of his life in Bhillamala (modern Bhinmal) in the empire of Harsha. As a result Brahmagupta is often referred to as Bhillamalacarya, the teacher from Bhillamala (Bhinmal). He was the head of the astronomical observatory at Ujjain, and during his tenure he wrote two texts on mathematics and astronomy: The Brahma Sphuta Siddhanta in 628, and the Khandakhadyaka in 665. The well known Jain scholar Siddharshi Gani, a resident of Bhinmal wrote Upmitibahava prapancha katha in 905 AD. The Jain Ramayana was written by Jain monk Vijayagani in 1595 AD. Jain Acharya Udyotan Suri wrote kuvyalmala (a Sanskrit story book) here.

The city of Bhinmal had four gates. At a distance of 8 kilometres in the north there was the Jalori gate, in the south Laxmi gate, in the east the Sun gate and in the west Sanchori gate.

Jainism in Bhinmal [link]

This city has witnessed many rises and falls. Stone inscriptions of the year 1333 of the Vikrama Samvat (1277 AD) are found among ruins of temples. There are signs here and there showing that Lord Mahavira Swami, the 24th Jain Tirthankar wandered about here. They can provide historical evidence to researchers.

There was a time when this city had a circumference of 64 kilometres and the fort had 84 gates. This city looked beautiful with hundreds of pinnacled temples. From the seventh to the tenth century, talented Jain monk/writer Acharya Haribhadra, Mundas Gani, Udayprabhsuri and many more created here valuable Jain literature and sanctified and beautified this place. The temple of the 23rd Jain Tirthankar Parshvanatha in Hathi pole area is regarded to be very ancient. This temple has great archeological importance. A golden idol of Shri Parshvanatha in Padmasana posture is the presiding deity.

On the image of the main deity, on the idol, there is an inscription from the year 1011 of the Vikrama era [954 AD]. It is believed that the idol was found from a hollow in the ground with many other idols. Eight hundred years ago Bhinmal as a Tirth is described in the Sakal Tirth Stotra composed by Jain monk Acharya Siddhasen Diwakar Surisvarji. The writer of Abhidhan Rajendra Kosh Dictionary of Prakrit, Sanskrit & Pali language Jain words & a famous Jain monk of the 20th century Acharya Rajendrasuri made his chaturmas here in 1880 AD. The Shrimal and Porwad Jain communities have originated from Bhinmal and its vicinity. With the emergence of Patan, Gujarat (ancient Anahilavada), a large fraction of the Jain population moved from Bhinmal and Patan emerged as the major Jain center.

Geography [link]

Bhinmal is located at 25°00′N 72°15′E / 25.0°N 72.25°E / 25.0; 72.25.^[4] It has an average elevation of 155.33 metres (479 feet).

Economy [link]

The economy of the town and surrounding area is mainly based on agriculture and animal husbandary. The oilseeds specially mustard oilseeds is predominant crop. Jeera, wheat, bajra, kharif pulses, barley, jowar and seasmum are other produces.

Bhinmal is the main Mandi (market) for agricultural produce of the area. The town has Krishi Upaj Mandi Samiti ( Agricultural Produce Market Committee) . Food Corporation of India has its warehouses here. The town is main supply point for various agricultural inputs like fertilisers, seeds and pesticides and for agricultural implements, motors, tractors and spare parts.

Bhinmal is known for fine quality of Mojari- (embroided lather shoes) .

There is no large and medium size industry in the Bhinmal industrial area. The main small scale industries are: granite slabs and tiles, marble cutting and polishing, mustard seed crushing, skimmed milk powder, butter and ghee, handloom cloth, leather shoes (mojari).

Infrastructure [link]

Transport [link]

Bhinmal is connected to Gujarat state and other major cities of India by road as well as Railway. The local transportation system within the city includes Auto-Riksha only.

Bhinmal is on Samadari-Bhildi section of North Western Railway. The name of railway station is Marwar Bhinmal. The railway tracks are broad gauge.Bhinmal is connected to all major cities by all weather roads.

Electricity [link]

There is one sub grid station of 400/220 KV at Bhinmal. The town receives power from Power Grid Corporation of India's grid station in Kota District. Almost all villages of the Bhinmal sub division are electrified.

Water [link]

The town gets drinking water from nimbawas,& Rajpura. The town area drinking water supply is managed by PHED (water dept.of Govt. of Rajasthan). The main source of irrigation for farmers continues to be wells.

Accommodation [link]

There are many hotels in the town. Some well known hotels are: Hotel Samarat,Hotel Gurudev,Hotel Neelkamal,Hotel Rajdeep and Hotel Sagar. The heritage hotel known as Castle Durjan Niwas is at village Daspan 25 km from Bhinmal. There is a Government Rest house too run by Public Works Department (PWD).

Education [link]

The town has a graduate/degree College called G K Gowani Government College affiliated to Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer and accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council(NAAC). There are three higher secondary and about forty five primary and middle schools in Bhinmal.This city also have a Govt. Girls School (Govt.G.Sec.Sr.Sch.) up to senior secondary level.

Bhinmal has more than 120 primary and middle schools run by education department of Rajasthan government as well as private sector.Adrash vidhya mandir and Vidya Bhawan School Bhinmal is most prominent school from private sector.

Communication [link]

• Telecommunications:All the basic phone and cellphone service provider companies have their network in Bhinmal. Broadband and Dial Up Internet and fax services is available at main Tel.exchange building of BSNL.Apart from BSNL, all private mobile service operators like airtel, Idea Cellular, MTS,Vodafone,Reliance,aircel and Tata Indicom providing cellphone services.

• Post:Bhinmal Post Office have broadband and leased line connectivity to provide web-enabled services like e-post, instant money order, electronic money order, Internet-based customer care services and Cyber cafe for e.g.: shyam communication

Medical/Hospital Facility [link]

Bhinmal town has good medical facilities. The town has a government referral hospital near gandhi maidaan and many private hospitals e.g. Dr. Bhupendra Choudhary Leproscopy Centre, Opp. Shivraj Stadium, Raniwara Road. There is an Aryuvedic hospital too. And also in government hospital there are good facilities.

Sports [link]

The town has a stadium by name of Shivaraj Stadium. It was inaugurated by staging Ranji trophy match in December 1985 between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It has indoor & outdoor games facilities. The yearly state level badminton tournament held here.

Banking [link]

Three nationalised Banks State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, Punjab National Bank and State Bank of India have their brances here. Some co-operative and local banks also have their branches in the town. They are: Jalore Nagrik Sahakari Bank ltd., Madhav Nagrik Sahakari Bank Ltd., Marwar Gramin Bank, Jalore Central Cooperative Bank and Bhumi Vikas Bank.

Library [link]

The town has two public libraries one is managed by the municipality and other one by Saraswati Temple Trust.

Administrative set-up [link]

• The town is one of two sub -divisions in Jalore district.
• The Bhinmal sub division covers three tehsils namely Bhinmal, Sanchore and Raniwara and four panchayat samitis namely Bhinmal, Sanchore, Raniwara and Jaswantpura.
• The civic affairs are administered by the Bhinmal Municipal Council (BMC) (Nagarpalika Mandal Bhinmal), with executive power vested in the Municipal excutive officer. The Council comprises 25 directly elected councillors representing the twenty five municipal wards. Three nominated Councillors and a local MLA also have a rights of councillor.
• The Bhinmal sub-division area is under the jurisdiction of a Deputy District Collector/Sub divisionl Officer (SDO)
• Bhinmal Tehsildar is in charge of property records and revenue collection of Bhinmal tehsil
• The Bhinmal Police is headed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police who is an IPS officer.
• Bhinmal also has a Lower court, the Small Causes Court for civil matters and the Sessions Court for criminal cases.
• Bhinmal constituency elects one member to the Vidhan Sabha (Rajasthan State Assembly)^[5]
• Mr.Hiralal bohra is selected as chairman of Municipality Bhinmal
• Mr. Pooraram choudhary is elected as MLA of Bhinmal in State Legislative Assembly.

Demography [link]

As of 2001^[update] India census,^[6] Bhinmal had a population of 221546. Rural Population is 184751, urban population is 39280, Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Bhinmal has an average literacy rate of 52%, lower than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 67% and female literacy of 36%. 18% of the population is under 6 years of age.

check https://jalore.nic.in/cens.html

Temples in Bhinmal [link]

Jain Temples [link]

• Mahavira Swami Jain temple
• parshvanatha Pratap Sarai Jain Temple
• Parshvanatha Jain temple [Hathi pole]
• Shantinath Jain temple [Ganesh chowk]
• Ganthi Mehata vaas [4 Jain temple complex]
• Nakoda Parshvanatha Jain temple
• Riddhi-Siddhi Parshvanatha Jain Temple
• Chomukhji Jain temple
• Manmohan Parshvanatha Jain temple'
• Jagawallabh Parshvanatha Jain temple
• Padmaprabhu Jain temple [magh colony]
• Jeerawalla Parshvanatha Jain temple
• Seemandhar swami Jain temple [Rath Mandir]
• ShankheshwarParshvanatha Jain temple complex.
• Gaudi Parshvanatha Jain temple.
• Kirti Stambh Jain Temple [Tower Temple].
• Bafna Wadi Jain Tirth (Lord Mahavira).
• Shankheshwar Parshvanatha Temple, Dhora-Dhal.
• Kunthunathji Jain Temple, Hundia Street.
• Laxmi vallabha Parshvanatha (72 jeenalay - complex of 72 Temple dedicated to 72 Jain Tirthankar), Jalore Road.

Hindu Temples [link]

• Khimat Mataji / Kshemekari Mataji Temple (Mataji ki Bhakri temple)- Kul Devi of Solanki's
• Varaha Shyam temple
• Chandinath temple
• Neel Kantha Mahadev temple
• Mahalaxmi temple, Mahalaxmi road
• Mahalaxmi temple, Dhora-dhal
• Gayatri temple
• Fafariya Hanuman temple
• Baba Ramdevji temple
• Vishwakarma temple
• Saraswati temple
• Lord Shanidev Temple, Near Old Police Station.
• Charbhuja temple (main market)
• Ardhnareshwar Mahadev mandir
• Varunachi yogeshwari mandir
• Priyuteshwar mahadev mandir
• Siddhivinayak mandir
• guru jambheshwar mandir bhinmal bishnois
• Dhundhleshwar Mahadev Temple, Gajipura, Bhinmal
• Boteshwar mahadev Temple,Karlu
• Sundha mataji temple[sundhaparvat]
• Hanumanji mandir sawidhar
• Vatyakshni mataji mandir ^[7]
• Lord Rajeshwar mandir bhinmal(Choudhary)
• Varahashayamji mandir bhinmal
• Kalka Maa Mandir[Balotiya Kuldevi][17 century]
• Ganga mata mandir,jatiya mohalla,BHINMAL
• Raneshwar Mahadev Mandir,jakob Talab(mali malaram chothaji gehlot)

Monuments [link]

• Chandinath Baori (Bavadi) (9th century)
• Jeevdaya Gaushala
• Jakoba Talab (8th century)
• Bal samundra pond
• Trayamkeshwer pond

Distances [link]

Nearest Airports:

• Jodhpur 200 km; Udaipur 230 km;Ahmedabad: 240 km

Nearest airstrips:

• Noon Jalore; Sirohi; Abu Road; Deesa.

By Road

• Jodhpur :200 km; Jalore:72 km; Sirohi:73 km; Mount Abu:170 km; Palanpur:120 km
• Ranakpur:140 km; Jaisalmer:335 km; Ahmedabad: 315 km; Abu Road:125 km;

Bhinmal in News [link]

• A 450 years old Jain temple was unearthed in year 2002 during construction work at the premises of Shri Parshwa Nath temple at Bhinmal. The temple has five images of Jain Tirthankars made in white marble.

See also [link]

• Jalore district

Notes [link]

https://bafnawadi.com/bhinmal.htm

References [link]

1.Campbell, James MacNabb; Reginald Edward Enthoven (1901). Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency. Govt. Central Press, 2. ISBN 81-206-0651-5.

2.Malabari, Behramji Merwanji; Krishnalal M. Jhaveri (1998). Gujarat and the Gujaratis: Pictures of Men and Manners Taken from Life. Asian Educational Services, 2. ISBN 81-206-0651-5. 3.kirshna vaishnav

External links [link]

v t e State of Rajasthan (India) Rajasthan Topics Major cities Jaipur (Capital) Ajmer Bikaner Jodhpur Kota Udaipur Divisions Ajmer Bharatpur Bikaner Jaipur Jodhpur Kota Udaipur Districts Ajmer Alwar Banswara Baran Barmer Bharatpur Bhilwara Bikaner Bundi Chittorgarh Churu Dausa Dholpur Dungarpur Hanumangarh Jaipur Jaisalmer Jalore Jhalawar Jhunjhunu Jodhpur Karauli Kota Nagaur Pali Pratapgarh Rajsamand Sawai Madhopur Sikar Sirohi Sri Ganganagar Tonk Udaipur