Jain Heritage Museum
Culture Architecture I Koba, Gujarat
Client Shree Mahavir Jain Aradhna Kendra
Area 95,000 Sq. ft
Status Completed 2026
Team Shimul Javeri Kadri, Sarika Shetty, Riddhi Shah, Saivi Shah, Nikita Rathish
The museum houses
the single largest collection of Jain manuscripts in India,
Recently inaugurated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Mr Narendra Modi, Samrat
Samprati Museum of Jain Heritage in Koba, Gujarat, has been designed by SJK Architects to
represent the Jain values of ahimsa (non-violence), austerity, and restraint.
Named after Samrat Samprati, the grandson of Ashoka and a revered figure in Jain tradition
known for his commitment to non-violence and propagation of Jainism, the museum houses
the single largest collection of Jain manuscripts in India, alongside rare artefacts such as
bronzes, stone sculptures, miniature paintings, and ritual objects that showcase the rich
historical, cultural, and spiritual legacy of Jainism.
The context of Jain institutions, among trees
The museum is located on the campus of the Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra (SMJK), a significant centre of Jain scholarship and pilgrimage situated along the Gandhinagar-Rajasthan highway in Koba, a town in the western Indian state of Gujarat.
The museum occupies a two-acre plot sandwiched between the temple (Derasar) and Gyan Mandir to its south, with a rest house (Dharamshala) and dining area (Bhojanalay) to its north. Previously a public thoroughfare connecting these facilities, the campus is frequented by Jain scholars and pilgrims. he vastness of the collection meant that only one-tenth of the archive could be displayed at any given time in the museum. As such, the brief called for secure storage and conservation infrastructure alongside the exhibition spaces, comprising reserve vaults and conservation labs observing international environmental control standards.
The shallow water body at its centre generates a soothing microclimate that counters the region's dry heat.
Recognising that this plot previously served as a public thoroughfare for anyone who visited the SMJK campus, we extended the brief to create a porous ground-floor space, non-ticketed and accessible to all, with the hope that it will enable the museum to serve as a thriving community space—a truly public environment to be enjoyed by school children, devotees, scholars, and tourists. The shallow water body at its centre generates a soothing microclimate that counters the region's dry heat. Further shaded by two mature neem trees, the courtyard functions effectively as a civic forecourt as well as a comfortable place of rest. The conservation laboratory, reserve vault, and temporary exhibition gallery are planned along the northern edge of this level, with visitor and staff movement segregated efficiently through dedicated access points. Ticketed access begins on the first floor, ensuring security standards are maintained without compromising the openness below.
A living repository : Connecting Jain heritage & site
The plan draws inspiration from that of the Ranakpur Jain Temple, regarded as one of the five most sacred pilgrimage sites of Jainism, and the concentric organisation of mandala/yantra diagrams prevalent in Jain cosmological thought. Rather than replicating this geometry, the architects have simplified its governing logic into a modernist form shorn of ornamentation, expressing historical precedent in a contemporary avatar, and the religion’s tenet of austerity, in a singular gesture.
This cubical form is hollowed at its centre to host a serene water body in an open-to-sky courtyard that preserves all existing trees, embodying ahimsa, the Jain tenet of non-violence.
Title
SJK Architects’ design ensures that storytelling begins well before a visitor encounters any artefact. The building is conceived as an all-white, modernist cube measuring 65 m by 65 m, rising across three floors to a height of 15 metres; permanent galleries are spread over 40,000 sq. ft. of its second and third floors. This cubical form is hollowed at its centre to host a serene water body in an open-to-sky courtyard that preserves all existing trees, embodying ahimsa, the Jain tenet of non-violence. The second and third floors are lifted on slender stilts to carve out a large, porous, public ground level.
Porosity and lightness
Rather than replicating this geometry, the architects have simplified its governing logic into a modernist form shorn of ornamentation, expressing historical precedent in a contemporary avatar, and the religion’s tenet of austerity, in a singular gesture. A restrained palette of Ambaji white marble and lime-plastered surfaces, long associated with spiritual purity in Jain temple architecture, is adopted to strengthen this narrative. Layers of meaning are embedded into the architecture further through gestures like the embossing of eight auspicious Jain symbols, the Ashtamangala, onto the facades.
Material expression : Significance of whiteness
A remarkable visual feature of the art gallery architecture project is the enveloping whiteness of the facades and structural members. Unblemished whiteness is symbolic of the calm austerity of Jainism, as a subtle cue. White marble holds a special place in Jain religious history, and has been used in the museum building, becoming a work of art in itself. On the facade, sacred motifs embossed into the surface are references to cosmic diagrams or yantras, rendering subtle cues to the richness of spiritual understanding presented inside the museum experience. The creation of an environment that draws from the heritage of the religion, as well as the crafts of its practice but creates a contemporary community space has been the goal of this project. An inherent restraint is seen across all aspects of the built environment’s expression, drawing from the qualities of detachment and restraint of the subject matter itself.
The creation of an environment that draws from the heritage of the religion, as well as the crafts of its practice but creates a contemporary community space has been the goal of this project.
The museum journey : A parikrama in itself
The museum journey is akin to a ‘parikrama’ or the reverential circumambulation around a significant religious entity. A ramp by the water leads slowly up to the exhibition architecture gallery.
Gallery spaces are spread across 2 floors first in clockwise and the upper floor in an anti-clockwise order, so as to also align entry and exit ways from the galleries. Along with display spaces, the back of house spaces and reserve vaults have been given equal importance in the museum’s planning and functioning. . The documentation and recording lab is located on the ground floor, close to the entry/exit and temporary gallery. Additionally, a condition & care lab - for preservation of the artefacts is located at mezzanine level. With inputs from the Prince of Wales Museum, conservation and research programmes were initiated to fine tune programme placement and artefact circulation loop, to carefully honour the antiques and their life cycles.
A narrative through galleries
The most important aspect of the museum experience has been to effectively present storytelling around the artefacts in interesting, engaging ways. With the involvement of museum experience and curation consultants BRMA, an interpretive plan based– on which the galleries have been created. Across two floors and seven galleries, the museum journey is laid out with artifacts and exhibits arranged in order of Jain history. The artefacts include stone and bronze statues, manuscripts, miniature paintings and prints of paintings. The museum is slated to open in … Gallery 1 - Showcases the concepts of Navpad - 9 teachings of Jainism, outlining the inherent philosophy GAllery 1A & 2 - Tells the story of 3 Tirthankaras; Shanti nath, Nemi nath, Parshavnath Gallery 3 -The largest gallery immerses visitors into the era of Mahavir & post Mahavir - his life & timeline Gallery 3 -Onwards practices of Jainism shedding light on monk life, literature - mantra sadhna & dhyaan sadhana - philosophical concepts (hell/upper realm) Gallery 4 - Sets the context showcasing emperors & royalty including kings who help spread the religion, patronage and different temples built. This space is more immersive & experiential - Ranakpur temple story & its pioneer - Heer Suri, Akbar farmaan - immersive Gallery 5 & 6 | 2nd floor
The SMJK Trust commissioned us to design a museum as a repository for their existing collection of Jain artefacts collected over years by the acharya and stored within their campus in Koba, Ahmedabad. The campus, consisting of a temple, a library and hostels and dining facilities for guests is a much-frequented stopover for Jain pilgrims. The area allocated to the Museum is a 2-acre parcel of land that lies between the temple and the hostel facilities. It is lush with neem trees and currently contains a small pathway that connects residential and religious activities. The brief given to us was to create an environment that showcased 10% of their extensive collection of miniatures, exquisite bronzes and rare scrolls among other things. Optimizing natural light and ventilation was critical since the use of electricity is kept to a minimum in Jain practice.
