Religion of Jainism in the Indian state of Karnataka
Karnataka
, a state in
South India
has a long association with
Jainism
, a religion which enjoyed patronage of major historic kingdoms in the state such as the
Rastrakuta Dynasty
,
Western Ganga
,
Kadamba
and
Chalukya
dynasties and the
Hoysala Empire
. Today the state is home to a number of Jain monuments, such as
temples
,
Gommata statues
and
stambhas
.
History
[
edit
]
Historical association of Jainism with
Karnataka
dates back to the 3rd century BC.
[2]
Acharya Bhadrabahu
predicted a twelve-year-long famine in north India and led the migration of Jain sangha to the south.
He was accompanied by his disciple
Chandragupta Maurya
and the
Sangha
halted at
Chandragiri Hill
. Realising that he was nearing the end of his life, Bhadrabahu instructed his disciples to spread the religion and he undertook
sallekhana
at Chandragiri.
[3]
Chandragupta Maurya continued to live on this hill worshipping the foot prints of his teacher and later he too took Sallekhana. There are two monuments on the hill recalling this event, a rock cut cave called Bhadrabahu cave and a structural shrine called the Chandragupta Basadi.
[4]
Architecture and monuments
[
edit
]
There are a number of monuments relating to the Jain religion in Karnataka. The Jain monuments include smaller shrines, Jain temples (known as
Bastis
or Basadis), Gommata statues and Sthambas (pillars). Moodabidri is home to the
1000 Pillar Jain temple
.
[5]
The Ganga-Permadi temple at
Annigeri
in Navalgund taluq received donation of land from
mahasamanta
Katarsa in 1074 CE for maintenance of charity-houses.
Another temple named
Samyakratnakara basadi
situated at Mugad,
Dharwad district
received a similar donation some time before 11th century CE.
The most prominent among them are as follows:
[7]
Basadis (Bastis)
[
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]
Statues of Gommata
[
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]
Shravanabelagola
has the world famous monolithic statue,
Gommateshwara statue
. Similar Monolithic statues of Lord
Bahubali
can be also seen in
Venur
,
Dharmasthala
,
Karkala
and
Mysore
.
There are five monolithic statues of Bahubali in
Karnataka
measuring more than 20 feet in height.
[
citation needed
]
In all of the above-mentioned places, the holy festival of
Mahamastakabhisheka
is held once every 12 years when the statue of Bahubali is worshiped and bathed in holy water, milk, turmeric, and other natural herbs that have their own significant importance.
[8]
[9]
-
Gommateshwara statue
at Shravanabelagola, 978-993 AD
-
-
Bahubali monolith of Dharmasthala (1973 CE)
-
Bahubali monolith of Venur (1604 CE)
-
Bahubali status at Gommatagiri (12th Century CE)
Jainism in North Karnataka
[
edit
]
Jainism in North Karnataka flourished under the
Chalukyas
,
Kadamba
and
Rashtrakutas
, and
Vijayanagara empire
.
[10]
Imbued with an intense religious feeling, lavish patronage was extended towards the building of basadis, temples and magnificent statues.
Jainism
enjoyed the highest repute among the people particularly the ruling classes and the mercantile community thus virtually becoming the state religion.
The earliest dated structure is a
Basadi
at
Halasi
built under the
Kadamba Dynasty
of
Banavasi
thus laying the foundation for Jain architecture in
North Karnataka
.
Rastrakutas
period is the golden age of Jainism in Karnataka. The Jaina monuments of the Rashtrakutas period are found at
Pattadakal
,
Malkhed
,
Lakshmeshwar
,
Koppal
, Bankur, of North Karnataka. Jainism exerted considerable influence over the cultural life of Karnataka during the rule of the Rashtrakutas.
[11]
Kadambas
of
Banavasi
were known to be patrons of Jainism. After the rule of the Kadambas of Banavasi most parts of north Karnataka came under the rule of the early Chalukya or
Badami Chalukyas
.
The
Chalukyas
of
Badami
built cave temples at
Badami
,
Pattadkal
and
Aihole
.
Puligere
(modern
Lakshmeshwara
) was a strong centre of religious activities of the Jain monks during this era.
Lakkundi
in
Gadag District
has a large Brahma Jinalaya of
Chalukya
style, built by a noble lady,
Attimabbe
.
Navagraha Jain Temple
at Varur near
Hubli
is one of the major pilgrimage. The temple features a 61 feet (18.6 m) tall monolithic idol of the Shri 1008 Bhagavan Parshvanatha and the smaller statues of the other 8 Jain teerthankaras.
[15]
Religious organisations
[
edit
]
The
Dakshin Bharat Jain Sabha
is a religious and social service organisation of the
Jains
of South India. The organisation is headquartered at
Kolhapur
, Maharashtra, India.
[16]
The association is credited with being one of the first Jain associations to start reform movements among the Jains in modern India.
[17]
[18]
The organisation mainly seeks to represent the interests of the native Jains of Maharashtra (
Marathi Jains
), Karnataka (
Kannada Jains
) and
Goa
.
List of famous temples
[
edit
]
- Cave temples
- Main temples
- Shravanabelagola
, a monumental statue of Saint Gomateshwar(
Bahubali
) in
Hassan district
.
- Karkala
, 1. Hiriyangadi Basadi 2. Chathurmukha Basadi 3. Padmavathi Kere Basadi. The famous monolithic 42 feet (13 m)
Gommateshwara statue
, the second tallest in Karnataka is also here.
- Dharmasthala
, a 39 feet (12 m) Gomateshwara idol.
- Venur
, a 35 feet (11 m) Gomateshwara idol.
- Gommatagiri
, a 20 feet (6.1 m) Gomateshwara idol.
- Moodabidri
, 18 ancient Jain temple including
Saavira Kambada Basadi
the Thousand Pillars Temple and
Guru Basadi
- Brahma Jinalaya
in
Lakkundi
- Humcha Jain temples
- Navagraha Jain Temple
in
Hubli
- Sankighatta
- Jain Narayana temple, Pattadakal
- Kundadri
: It is said this is Samadhi sthal of
Acharya
Kundakunda
- Chaturmukha Basadi
in
Karkala
- Akkana Basadi
- Odegal basadi
- Parshvanatha basadi
- Basadi complex
,
Halebidu
: 1. Parshvanatha Basadi 2. Shantinatha Basadi 3. Adinatha Basadi
- Varanga
? This is an important Jain centre. The
Kere basadi
is located in midst of a lake. There are many other basadis too.
- Aihole Jain complex
- Meguti Jain temple, Charanthimatha Group of temples, Yoginarayana group and Jain cave temple
- Kanakagiri Jain tirth
- Shanka Basadi
& Ananthanatha basadi at
Lakshmeshwara
- Chandragupta basadi
- Basadi complex
in
Shravanabelagola
- Shantinatha Basadi, Jinanathapura
- Panchakuta Basadi, Kambadahalli
- Hadavalli Jain Temple
- Chavundaraya Basadi
- Narasimharajapura
- Kamal Basadi
& Chikki Basadi at
Belgaum Fort
- Chaturmukha Basadi, Gerusoppa
- Mandaragiri
- Jain Bhattaraka Math
at
Manyakheta
- Aagam Mandir, Tumkur
- Kamthana Jain temple
- Shri 1008 Adinath Digamber Jin Mandir
,
Jayanagar, Bangalore
- Shri Mahavira Digambara Jain temple
,
Chickpet
- Kalya (Kalyana pura)
- Gundwad Jain Basadi
- Kathale Basadi
,
Barkur
- Sri Parshwanath Swamy Basadi
- Shri Parshwa Sushil Dham
,
Attibele
- Jain temple inside Hangal Fort
,
Hubli
- Hampi Jain complex
- Padmabbarasi basadi
,
Naregal
- Shantinatha Basadi
,
Kalaghatagi
- Godageri
- Sargur
- Shri Parshwa Sushil Dham
- Shri 1008 Bhagwan Neminath Digambar Jain Basadi.
,
Terdal
- Shri khetra Badragiri
,
Halingali
Notable Karnataka Jains
[
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]
Justice R.S.Mahendra
Photo gallery
[
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]
See also
[
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]
External links
[
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]
References
[
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]
Citation
[
edit
]
- ^
Singh, R.B.P. (2008).
Jainism in Early Medieval Karnataka
. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.
ISBN
9788120833234
.
- ^
"A place soaked in religion"
. Archived from
the original
on 12 October 2006
. Retrieved
23 November
2006
.
- ^
"Karnataka's hotbed of Jain religion"
. Archived from
the original
on 18 June 2006
. Retrieved
25 November
2006
.
- ^
Ramnarayan, Gowri (24 April 2005).
"Moodbidri ? woods of yore"
.
The Hindu
.
Chennai
. Archived from
the original
on 26 April 2005
. Retrieved
15 July
2018
.
- ^
Documentation Update: October 2004 to March 2005
, EQUATIONS, p. 29
- ^
Kumar, Brajesh (2003),
Pilgrimage Centres of India
, Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd., p. 199,
ISBN
9788171821853
- ^
Travel House Guide to Incredible India
, Har Anand Publications, 2004, p. 243,
ISBN
9788124110638
- ^
"The Jain Legacy In Karnataka"
. Retrieved
20 August
2008
.
- ^
Chugh, Lalit (2016),
Karnataka's Rich Heritage - Art and Architecture
(From Prehistoric Times to the Hoysala Period ed.), Notion Press, p. 312,
ISBN
9789352068258
- ^
Hubli gets magnificent ‘jinalaya’.
The Hindu, 6 January 2009.
- ^
Bhanu, B. V. (2004).
People of India: Maharashtra - Kumar Suresh Singh
. Popular Prakashan.
ISBN
9788179911006
. Retrieved
30 January
2013
.
- ^
Carrithers, Michael; Humphrey, Caroline, eds. (4 April 1991).
The Assembly of Listeners: Jains in Society
. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
9780521365055
. Retrieved
30 January
2013
.
- ^
Markham, Ian S.; Sapp, Christy Lohr (26 May 2009).
A World Religions Reader
. John Wiley & Sons.
ISBN
9781405171090
. Retrieved
30 January
2013
.
Sources
[
edit
]
- Abram, David (2003),
South India
, Rough Guides,
ISBN
9781843531036
- Hartmann, Jens-Uwe; Ray, Himanshu Prabha (2020),
Power, Presence and Space South Asian Rituals in Archaeological Context
, Archaeology and Religion in South Asia, vol. 5,
Taylor & Francis
,
ISBN
9781000168808
- Sangave, Vilas Adinath (2001a),
Aspects of Jaina religion
(3rd ed.),
New Delhi
:
Bharatiya Jnanpith
,
ISBN
978-8126307203
- Sangave, Vilas Adinath (2001b),
Facets of Jainology: Selected Research Papers on Jain Society, Religion, and Culture
, Popular Prakashan,
ISBN
978-8171548392
- Singh, Ram Bhushan Prasad (2008) [1975],
Jainism in Early Medieval Karnataka
,
Motilal Banarsidass
,
ISBN
978-81-208-3323-4