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Chitharal Jain Monuments
Photo: Karthi.dr, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Famous temples · Tamil Nadu

Chitharal Jain Monuments

Jain cave temple and Bhagavati shrine in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu

Checked 21 Oct 2026 with 4 sources2 min read

DirectionsShare

Getting there

  • By air

    Thiruvananthapuram International Airport (TRV) is the nearest airport.

  • By train

    Kanniyakumari Railway Station (CAPE) is the nearest railway station.

  • By road

    Take NH 47 from Thiruvananthapuram to Kanyakumari, then turn left at Marthandam towards Attoor. The site is about 7 km from Marthandam and 55 km from Kanniyakumari.

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Why devotees come here

The Chitharal Jain Monuments are near Chitharal village in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. They include a Jain temple carved out of a natural cave, with a Hindu temple beside it. Its main shrines are cut into rock, and the carved rock beside them shows Jain Tirthankaras.

The monuments in Chitharal village date from the 9th century CE. The Jain beds and temple here are Digambara Jain monuments, and the site is a centrally protected monument maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India.

The Archaeological Survey of India dates the Jain beds from the first century BCE to the sixth century CE. Gopinatha Rao states that the site was built during the reign of the Hindu monarch Vikramaditya Varaguna. This is his claim, not a settled date.

The Jain temple was carved out of a natural cave. Inside, a pillared hall leads to three sanctums with Jain shrines to Parsvanatha, Mahavira and Padmavati. Next to it, the Hindu temple of Devi Bhagavati, also called Parvati, has a mandapam, a verandah and a kitchen carved into an overhanging rock. The rock outside has many bas-relief sculptures of Jain Tirthankaras.

Tips for your visit

  • Ask locals for directions to the caves, which are about two km away.
  • From the entrance board, roughly hewn steps in the rock lead uphill through cashew, coconut and rubber-plantation trees.

Darshan at home

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Chitharal Jain Monuments is not in the Divya Darshan 360 app yet. These Famous temples temples are, with darshan videos you can watch at home:

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Questions people ask

Who looks after the Chitharal Jain Monuments?

The Thrissur Circle of the Archaeological Survey of India has maintained the site since 1964. It is a centrally protected monument.

How old are the Chitharal Jain Monuments?

The monuments are from the 9th century CE. The Archaeological Survey of India dates the Jain beds at the site from the first century BCE to the sixth century CE.

Are there carvings at the site?

Yes. A natural overhanging rock has many bas-relief sculptures of Jain Tirthankaras, and the Hindu temple's kitchen is carved into rock beside it.

Where exactly is the site?

It is about 55 km northwest of Kanyakumari on Highway 66 and about 4 km northeast of Kuzhithurai town on Highway 90.

Is Chitharal a Jain or a Hindu site?

Both. The main cave temple has Jain shrines to Parsvanatha, Mahavira and Padmavati, and the Hindu temple beside it is dedicated to Devi Bhagavati, also called Parvati.

How we checked this page

On 21 Oct 2026 we checked every fact on this page against these sources, official ones first. Anything we could not confirm is left out.

  1. Chitharal Jain Monuments, Incredible India (Government of India) incredibleindia.gov.in
  2. Chitharal Jain Caves, Kanniyakumari District (Government of Tamil Nadu) kanniyakumari.nic.in
  3. On the southern tip of India, a village steeped in the past, The Hindu thehindu.com
  4. Chitharal Jain Monuments and Bhagavati Temple, Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org

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