Historical Geography of Ancient India c9.199

c9.199

*Raivataka Hill*.—Raivata or Raivataka was near Dvārakā. It is mentioned in the *Mahābhārata* (Ādiparva, CCXIX, 7906–17) that a festival was held on this hill in which the citizens of Dvārakā took part. Pargiter is inclined to identify it with the Baradā hills in Halar (*Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa*, p. 289). In the Junāgaḍh Inscription of Skandagupta occurs the Raivataka hill which is opposite to Ūrjayat (See *Dohad Stone Inscription of Mahamuda* in *E.I.*, XXIV, Pt. V, January, 1938, p. 216). The Jaunpur stone inscription of Īśvaravarman Maukharī mentions it along with the Vindhya mountains (*C.I.I.*, Vol. III). Fleet has identified Raivataka with one of the two hills of Girnar and not with Girnar proper (*C.I.I.*, III, p. 64, n. 11; *I.A.*, VI, p. 239). The *Bṛhatsaṃhitā* (XIV. 19) mentions it as situated in the south-west division. In early times Raivata and Ūrjayanta might have been names of two different hills at Girnar; but in later times they came to be regarded as identical (*Bombay Gazetteer*, Vol. VIII, p. 441). The Raivataka in the *Dohad Stone Inscription of Mahamuda* refers to the hill on which there are temples and which is now known as Girnar (*E.I.*, XXIV, Pt. V, p. 222). Close to Junāgaḍh in Gujrat stands the Raivataka hill or Girnar, which is considered to be the birthplace of Neminātha, the religious preceptor of king Dattātreya. The river Suvarṇarekhā flows at the foot of this hill. There is a foot-print on the Girnar hill known as the *Gurudattacaraṇa*. The temples of Neminātha and Pārśvanath are found here. The name of Girinagara occurs in the *Bṛhatsaṃhitā* (XIV, 11). Girnār is famous in the inscriptions of Aśoka, Skandagupta and Rudradāman. To the east of Junāgaḍh there is a number of Buddhist caves. The Inscriptions of Rudradāman and Skandagupta inform us that at Girnar the provincial governors of Candragupta, Aśoka, and the Imperial Guptas lived. There is the Svayamvara lake near it. Here stands a high pinnacled temple of Neminātha on the summit of the Raivataka hill in Surāṣṭra. For further details, vide B. C. Law, *Some Jaina Canonical Sūtras*, pp. 181-182.