Shri Rantej Tirth stands in Rantej village of Becharaji taluka, Mehsana district, about 13 km from Becharaji. Its moolnayak is Shri Neminath Bhagwan, the 22nd Tirthankar, in a 52-jinalaya (bavan jinalaya) of finely carved pink stone. Today the tirth is also known as Shri Nemi-Saraswati Dham, for its ancient idol of Saraswati Devi.
The legend of the buried jinalayas
By tradition, Rantej was once a prosperous town called Ratnavati Nagari, and its 52 jinalayas lay buried under the earth for centuries, beneath a hill where a monastery later stood.
The story told at the tirth is that, about 500 years ago, a shravak from nearby Dhanpura (Katosan) saw the buried temple again and again in his dreams. When the dreams kept returning, he told the Sangh and the village, and digging at the spot uncovered the 52 jinalayas intact, but with no idols inside.
A later dream pointed to a house on the east side of the village. Digging there, after a three-day fast (attham tap) by devotees, is said to have revealed eighteen idols, among them Shri Neminath Bhagwan, who was installed as moolnayak.
Age and restorations
Tradition holds the idol of Neminath Bhagwan to be more than two thousand years old; the accounts differ on the exact age. Restorations of the tirth are remembered in Vikram Samvat 110, 1300, 1600 and 1874.
The main jinalaya was badly damaged in the Gujarat earthquake of 2001 and was rebuilt with fine three-dimensional carving. The anjanshalaka pratishtha of the restored tirth was completed on Maha Sud 13, Vikram Samvat 2063 (21 January 2007).
Saraswati Devi and the other deities
The tirth is especially known for its idol of Saraswati Devi, the goddess of knowledge, said to be more than 750 years old, which is why it is now called Shri Nemi-Saraswati Dham. Students and seekers of knowledge come for her darshan.
The complex also has the very old shrines of Mahalakshmiji, Chakreshwari Devi and Kshetrapal Dada.
The tirth today
Acharya Shri Arunodayasagarsurishwarji and Acharya Shri Arvindsagarsurishwarji are credited with reviving the tirth. From a few hundred yatris at first, it now welcomes well over a lakh of pilgrims.
Rantej is an easy addition to a yatra around Kalri and Becharaji, with Bhoyani, Modhera, Kamboi and Shankheshwar all within about 45 km. The tirth has a dharamshala and a bhojanshala.