[10] On these hilltops is a fortified wall complex with space for canons built by the Shantidas Jhaveri, the nagarsheth of Ahmedabad 17th century to resist any raids and destruction after Murad Baksh,the son of Mughal Emperor Shaha Jahan granted the hill to him through a firman.

[9][17] In the traditional texts and beliefs, this sacred hill became important to Jainism millions of years ago, since the age of Adinatha (locally called Adishvera).

It then gives 108 alternate names for this site in verses 331 to 335, such as Pundarika giri, Siddikshetram, Mahabala, Surasaila, Vimaladri, Punyarasi, Subhadra, Muktigeham, Mahatirtham, Patalamula, Kailasa, and others.

There exists a marble image of Pundaraksvami consecrated in samvat year 1064 (1120 CE) by Shersthi Ammeyaka to commemorate the sallekhana of a muni belonging to the Vidhyadhara Kula.

[19] Bharata Chakravartin, the father of Pundarik and half-brother of Bahubali, is believed in Jain mythistory to have visited Shatrunjaya many times.

[note 1][10][22] Vividha Tirtha Kalpa, composed by Jinaprabha Suri in the 14th century CE, describes the shrines and legends of Palitana temples.

[23] Shatrunjaya along with Ashtapad, Girnar, Dilwara Temples of Mount Abu and Shikharji are known as Śvētāmbara Pancha Tirth (five principal pilgrimage shrine).

More precise dates emerge in texts such as the Shatrunjaya Mahatmya, which in a verse asserts its own composition of samvat 477 (c. 421 CE), but then proceeds to mention a series of seventeen renovations by Jaina Kings, the one that was completed in early 14th century based on epigraphy and other historical records.

Thus, the Palitana temples site was acknowledged in the most important texts of Śvetāmbara Jains, and it was definitely a part of Jaina sacred geography in Gujarat by the 11th century.

[10] Based on epigraphy and architectural considerations, the Palitana temples were built, damaged, restored and expanded over a period of 900 years starting in the 11th century.

[27] This may be because earlier temples were built from wood, while stone and marble as construction material was adopted by Gujarati Jain community at Satrunjaya in the 12th century.

[28] The damage and destruction of earlier versions of the Palitana temples complex is attributed by Jain texts to the Turks (the name for Muslim armies of different Sultanates).

Suri writes in section 1.119 of his Vividha Tirtha Kalpa that the Palitana temples were sacked by the Muslim army in 1311 CE.

[10] In 1656, Murad Baksh – then Governor of Gujarat, and the son of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, granted the Shatrunjaya site and Palitana temples as a gift to Shantidas Jhaveri – then the jeweller to his court and the leader of local Jain community.

The Palitana temples highlight the Maru-Gurjara architecture found in western and northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent, primarily Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Given its history of damage and rebuilding, the 16th- to 19th-century Palitana temples of Śvetāmbara Jain tradition show the evolution in design principles over this period within the Solanki school.

It reflects an ornate style with the North Indian Nagara temples architecture, and is related to the innovations and developments that began in western India around the 10th century with the Kalyana Chalukya dynasty.

[37] This Solanki-school Maru-Gurjara architecture preserves the Nagara Shikhara, yet distinctively favors ornate outer and inner walls with numerous reliefs, sculptures and open pillared halls with the square and circle principle variously applied.

The post 16th-century temples in Palitana, like those found in Rajasthan, look ever more ornamented and precision carved in marble or other materials that became increasingly easier to move from their place of origin.

[37] Among the various Tuks at Shatrujaya, the more elaborate and open architecture temples are those built in the 19th century and under the sponsorship of the Anandji Kalyanji Trust.

The Chaumukh temple, built in 1616 by Setthi Devaraj, has a four-faced Adinatha image deified on a white pedestal, each face turned towards the cardinal directions.

[42] In the shrines, on a pedestal, are large figures of Mahavira, sitting with feet crossed in front, like those of Buddha, often decorated with gems, gold plates, and silver.

[50] Most devout Jains prefer to walk up, but elderly pilgrims sometimes opt for a pallanquin (doli) to be manually carried from the town to the hilltop.

In the month of Phalguna (February/March), Jain pilgrims take a longer route, one passing through five sacred temple sites over a distance of 45 kilometres (28 mi).

On one special day (Fagun Sud 13), which commonly falls in February/March, thousands of Jain followers visit the temple complex to attain salvation.

Jains, in very large numbers assemble on this day at the temple complex on the hills as it opens after 4 months of closure during the monsoon season.

A procession carrying images of the tirthankara is made in huge decorated chariots, concurrently accompanied by religious ceremonies in the temples.

Along the trail from the town to the entrance of the Palitana temples fort walls, there are several small Hindu shrines, typically near rest spaces.

According to the site research completed by James Burgess, Hengar threw a mace at Adinatha statue and damaged it, but was struck dead in the attempt.

In contemporary times, a new story has been offered by the caretaker of the dargah, one that claims that he argued with Sultans on behalf of the Jains and prevented damage to the Palitana temples during the Muslim invasions.