Museum For Jain Heritage, Ahmedabad

Text by SJK Architects |A behind-the-scenes glimpse into the making of a museum rooted in memory, geometry, and light.

Render Credit: Renderzoo

Museum of Jain Heritage, Koba

"This museum is not meant for the few, but for the many. A place where schoolchildren come on field trips, where devotees stop between prayers, where scholars dive deep into Jain scriptures, and where tourists find quiet fascination.”

A PERSONAL QUEST BECOMES A COLLECTIVE TREASURE

From discarded to treasure

A learned and respected Jain Acharya—Padmasagar Suriji—during his travels through the villages of India, was struck by a recurring sight: beautiful objects that spoke of Jain history were being neglected or discarded. From dusty corners of ancestral homes to forgotten trunks, relics of cultural and spiritual significance seemed on the verge of being lost forever.

He made a simple, powerful request: “Give them to me.”

And with that, a remarkable stream of antiquity and art began flowing into the coffers of the SMJK Trust premises at Koba, Ahmedabad. Manuscripts, long narrative paintings called Patts, coins, statues, and even delicate ivory toys—objects once part of everyday devotion—now found their way into safekeeping. Over the years, this collection has grown into a serious repository of Jain history: carefully catalogued, preserved in a vault, and minimally displayed while it awaited a home worthy of the delight and knowledge each piece brings.

With this noble intent, we were invited to design a museum—not merely a building, but a space that celebrates a way of life, built on a plot of land dotted with mature neem trees, their presence sacred, calming, and irreplaceable.

Central courtyard

DESIGN AS DEVOTION

The design of the museum evolved from the Ranakpur temple plan, drawing inspiration from the sacred geometry of a Jain mandala.

At the core of the project are the existing trees—not removed, but embraced—surrounded by a water body and marble steps. The stilted ground floor gently wraps around this serene center, offering a space where people can relax and commune before beginning their journey upward.

Visitors ascend a ramp to enter the museum’s galleries—creating a sense of pilgrimage, of movement and unfolding.

The galleries are organized to express the evolution of a Jain practitioner through the concept of “Navpad.” As a piece of art gallery architecture, the museum allows for pause, for reverence, and for introspection.

The simplicity of the building, its purity, and its whiteness—symbolic of the austerity of the religion—mask complex mechanical systems that ensure that the air, light, and fire norms of a world-class museum are adhered to.

Serene Waterbody

Read more about this project at Museum for Jain Heritage.