Vasai Jain Temple Vasai Jain Temple is believed to be one of the oldest Jain temples in India, although they have been renovated and rehabilitated from time to time. The general plan is like that of the
Dilwara Temples on mount Abu. It stands in a court about 48 feet wide by 85 long, surrounded by a row of forty-four shrines with a corridor in front. The temple stands in a courtyard, which, from the line of the temple front, is covered by three pillared domes. The temple, facing the east, is entered by a flight of steps that rise from the outer door to the covered area in front of the sanctuary. Over the porch is another large dome covering an area separated by a low screen wall from the area of the entrance hall, mandap, between it and the front of the temple itself. At the south-west corner and behind the cells on the left side is a row of chambers with cellars entered by lifting up flagstones in the floor. In the shrine are three white marble images. The central image is Ajitnath, the second of the Tirthankars, with the date 622 probably for Samvat 1622 or AD 1565. On his right is Parshwanath with the snake hood marked 1175 (Samvat 1232), and on his left Santinath, the 16th Tirthankar, also marked 1175 (Samvat 1232). On the extreme right is the image of the black or Shamla Parshwanath. It is a small walled enclosure that has a square pyramid shaped dome. It is round in the inside and supported on eight pillars set against the wall. The roof of the porch is flat and divided into 9×3 small squares, each with lotus flowers inside. Round the architrave, above the vine-ornamented wall-head course, there is a deep line of Arab inscription in large square
Kufic characters, and on the right end of the wall there are two lines of inscription. In the court some graves also have Kufic inscriptions. These
epigraphs constructed in
AH Dhi’l-hijja 554 (December 1159-January 1160 AD) marked the first use of Kufic script as well as the first epigraphic evidence of Muslim settlement in India.
Chhoti Masjid Chhoti Masjid is a very old mosque which is reliably dated to the late 12th century, meaning they predate the well known Islamic architecture of
Ahmedabad by 250 years or so, making them in all likelihood the first mosques built in
India.
Chokhanda Mahadev Temple There is also an ancient
Shiva temple known as Chokhanda Mahadev situated at the seashore. This old temple was made with red stones. There is also the centuries-old Rokadiya
Hanuman temple. ==Economy==