For several centuries, the temple at Goripur was a celebrated Jain
tirtha. It forms part of the collection of worship sites that comprise the
Nagarparkar Temples. An account of its building is contained in "Gaudi Parshvanath Stavan" by Pritivimala, composed in Samvat 1650 and "Shri Gaudi Parshvanath Stavan" written by Nemavijaya in Samvat 1807. According to Muni Darshanvijaya, it was installed by Seth Godidas of Jhinjhuvad and was consecrated by Acharya
Hemachandra at
Patan in Samvat 1228. It was brought to Patan and was buried underground for safekeeping during a period of disturbance. It was rediscovered in 1375–76 and was stored in the stable of the local ruler. According to the old texts, a merchant Megha Sa from
Nagarparkar acquired the image by paying 125 dramma or 500 pieces (taka) and brought to Nagarparkar, where it was formally reconsecrated by Acharya Merutunga Suri of
Anchala Gachchha. Later, according to instructions he received in a dream, he settled a new town at Godipur and constructed a temple in samvat 1444, thus establishing the Godi Parshvanth Tirth. The construction was supervised by an architect from
Sirohi. The shikhar of the temple was completed by his son Mahio. The tirth became famous and was visited by the Jains from afar. It was visited by Stanley Napier Raikes in 1854. Raikes met local Jains to compile recent history and consulted a Jain Yati Goorjee Kuntvujajee at Bodhesar, who had manuscripts describing the history of the temple. In 1716, the local chief Soda Sutojee moved the image from the temple to a fort. The image used to be buried underground at a secret location for safekeeping, and used to be taken out time to time with great celebration. Raikes write that thousands of monks and hundreds of thousands of ordinary people assembled for the fairs held in 1764, 1788, 1796, 1810, 1822 and 1824 for the idol's exhibition. In AD 1832, the chief Soda Poonjajee, who was the only person who knew the location of the image, was captured by the ex-Ameers and died in captivity. The image was never seen again. The temple was later damaged in the battle between Colonel Tyrwhitt and a local Sodha chief, who had taken shelter at the temple. The temple was inspected the Archaeological Survey of India in 1879. The report refers to it having been built in Samvat 1432. An inscription of 1715 was noted mentioning repairs made. Jain Muni Vidyavijayaji visited Sindh in 1937. He notes that the temple was empty, and had decayed. A local Bhil served as a guard. At that time there were still many Jain families in towns near Nagarparkar. During India's partition in 1947, the Jains left and the temple became inaccessible to the Jain community.
Gori Temple Architecture: The Gori temple was constructed in the classical medieval style. The main structure (mula prasad) with a shikhara is surrounded by 52 subsidiary shrines (devakulikas), just like the
Vimala Vasahi at
Mt. Abu. It is termed Dvi-Saptati or Bavan Jinalaya by Nandalal Chunilal
Somapura in the Sanskrit text Jina Prasad-Martanda. == In popular culture ==