In historical and ever happening Kutch district of the Gujarat state in India, Kothara town is located some 80 kilometers from Bhuj, the epicenter sort of city for the entire Kutch. Kothara lies in hot, arid and dry region of Kutch. The Arabian Sea is on its West while the Rann of Kutch is on its North. Kothara was founded by Haloji, brother of Kutch ruler Godaji (1715-1718), after the former received the Mundra estate from Godaji. Along with Kothara, Haloji also founded towns like Kotri and Nagrachi. Besides being a thriving town, Kothara also has an impressive past and lineage of traders who, lived in Zanzibar and Mumbai. Even today, one can see several houses belonging to this traders in Kothara with rich architecture. For the Jain community, Kothara is also a pilgrimage centre, being a part of their Moti
Panchtirthi, or the extensive pilgrimage route, or also called as Abdasani Panchtirthi. The pilgrimage centres covered in the Moti Panchtirthi are located at Suthari (Shri Dhrutkalol Parshvanathji), Kothara (Shri Shantinath Prabhuji), Jakhau (Shri Mahavir Swami), Naliya (Shri Chandraprabhu Swami), Tera (Shri Jiravalla Parshvanathji) and Sandhan (Shri Shantinathji). With time, the town has impressively evolved by keeping pace with the changing India. Kothara village has a modern atithi gruh called Ajani Atithigruh, for which Matushri Kantabai Govindji Lodaya (Ajani), Sheth Laxmichand Dharshi Mota and his family gave generous donations as chief donors. They have also build Rajbai Laxmichand Dharshi Mota Lakhaniawala Jain Bhojanshala in Kothara. Shri Shantinath Prabhuji’s Jain Derasar of Kothara is a pilgrimage center for the Jain community. This world known Derasar, now a Jinalaya, has made Kothara known in all corners of the world. To read more about Shri Shantinathji Jain Derasar, click here.