According to Vividha Tirtha Kalpa written by Jinprabhasuri, there was an ancient wooden temple on the mountain with a clay idol of Neminatha in it.

A legend has that upset with the incident, Ratnasar fasted for 21 days and upon completion, demi-goddess Ambika gave him a stone idol of Neminatha which Ratnasar got consecrated in the temple on 15th day of bright half of Vaishakh month in Vikram Samvat 980 (10th century CE).

[2] Brihadswayambhustotra, a text dated c. 600 CE by Digambara poet Samantabhadra, mentions the existence of footprints of Arishtanemi on Girnar.

[1] This was then replaced with the oldest part of the present temple, which was built c. 1129 CE by Sajjana, the governor of Saurashtra under the Solankis of Gurjaratra .

According to Merutunga's Prabandhachintamani, Sajjana opted to use three years worth of revenue income from the Saurashtra region to rebuild the temple, rather than crediting it to the royal treasury.

Siddharaja, the king of Gujarat at the time, inquired with regard to the funding mechanism during his return from a pilgrimage to the Somnath temple.

A century ago there was an inscription on the stone near the south gate that mentioned the word Karnayatan, though this is now lost.

[6] Merutunga also mentions that Sajjana had replaced the previously existing wooden temple, however no other work corroborates this.

[7] An inscription in the Shanraja-shila-prashasti mentions that Mandalika I, who was king of Chudasama, had the temple gilded with gold plates in c. 1453–1454 CE.

[7][8][clarification needed] Harpal Shah of Khambhat renovated the temple c. 1393 CE on the instruction of Jayatilaksuri of Brihat-Tapa-Gaccha.

[1] It contains a large black statue of Neminath sitting in the lotus position holding a conch in his palm.

[11] The ceiling, measuring about 15 feet (4.6 m) in diameter, is made of black stone carved into multiple layers.

[10] There are niches in the walls of the inner hall that contain idols of Hemachandra, Kumarapala, and Shantisuri of Kunjarapadriya Gaccha, all of which are dated c. 1219 CE.