GOPACHAL PARVAT
The Gopachal Parvat is situated just around the part of the Gwalior Fort and is the abode of a fantastic collection of statues of Jain Digambara tirthankaras. All the statues were established here between 1398 and 1536. Kings of the Tomar dynasty including Veermadev, Dungar Singh and Kirti Singh are the people behind the construction of the whole place. The mountain is said to spread the message of love and peace along with equality that was seen decreasing slowly in those days with all types of social evils and caste systems.
The most remarkable statues here are those of the standing Adinath and Parshvanath in a cross legged sitting position. These statues are all facing the Gwalior Fort as it is known to be a Jain Fort and is also known as Jain Garh. Legends say that King Dungar Singh was an ardent Jainism follower and made the statues with lot of dedication. On the other hand Sher Shah Suri was on a destruction spree where he and his men were randomly vandalizing Hindu Temples. It once happened that Sher Shah himself took out his sword to break down the statue of Parshvanathji but in a supernatural way he found his arms had no strength left in them. He got scared and ran away from there. Later, Akbar removed the same statue to bury the Sufi Saint who was his father’s mentor, named Ghaus Muhammad and is now known as the Tomb of Muhammad Ghaus.