The famed Jain heritage centre in Udupi district, Karnataka.
Continuing from the last part, here is the rest of our trip to Karkala, featuring the great Manasthambha before Shri Neminatha Mandir at Hiriyangadi, and also including Shri Anantapadmanabha Temple and Ramasamudra lake of Karkala.
Karkala town in Udupi district of Karnataka is home to several historically significant hundreds of years old Jain temples or basadis. Many historical structures like the great Manasthambha before the Neminatha Mandir at Hiriyangadi, stand in Karkala as wonderful examples of art and architecture.
| Place Details & Brief History | Our Karkala Trip - Part 2 | Other Historical Basadis of Karkala | Anantapadmanabha Temple | Ramasamudra Lake
| Tips for Travellers | Getting There & Transportation | Food & Accommodations | Best times to visit
| Location Map | Get Directions | Nearby Attractions
About Karkala
Karkala is home to several hundreds of years old Jain and Hindu Temples that stand to date as an evidence of a rich and diverse cultural history of Coastal Karnataka and surrounding regions and their wonderful examples of art and architecture.
Some of them are now protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), like the Ananthapadmanabha temple, built in 1567 CE, the Chathurmukha Basadi, The monolith of Lord Bahubali Gommateshwara and the Manasthamba at Hiriyangadi.
Karkala is one of the places worth visiting if you happen to be at Udupi or Mangalore (now renamed as Mangaluru) on a tour.
Our Karkala Trip - Part 2
Continuing from Part-1 : Chaturmukha Basadis of Karkala, and the Karkala Gommateshwara Monolith, here is the remaining part of our Karkala trip.
Other Historical Basadis of Karkala
From Chaturmukha Basadi, on our first Karkala trip, we went searching for more historically significant temples.
Shravana Basadi
On the road, near the Anekere Basadi, we found Shravana basadi, with Chandranatha swamy as the main deity.
Shravana Basadi has a small pillared open hall on the front. As some other older basadis or temples of Karavali or Coastal Karnataka region, it has the typical slanted stone shades.
The Great Manastambha and the Basadis around Shri Neminatha Temple of Karkala
Next, we headed to the group of Jain Temples with Neminath Basadi and the Great Manasthambha before it, along with five other Basadis or Jain Temples around this towering monolithic column, at Hiriangadi in Karkala. That is, there are totally six Jain temples here in this group at Hiriyangadi, with Shri Neminatha Basadi being the largest and the main one here.
The Great Manastambha
The Great Manasthamba stands gloriously in the space between six Jain temples, to the east of Shri Neminatha Basadi. A Manasthambha means a column of honour, which are huge carved monolithic granite pillars that are often found before or beside Jain temples of this region.
This great manasthambha pillar was installed around the middle of the 15th century by Pandya, the grandson of Bhairava I who had established the control of the Kalasa house over Karkala region for the first time.
Measuring 16.5 metre or 54 feet in height, this manasthambha in front of the Neminatha Mandir is one of the protected monuments by the ASI.
Maintenance works were going on that day with scaffolding all around it, so we visited again last month during our visit to the Bahubali Gomateshwara monolith, for a better view of the great Manasthambha! That is, the other pictures here of this great Manasthambha without scaffolding are from our more recent second visit.
(Not to be confused with the Neminatha Basadi (also called Neminath Mandir), an over 1200 year old Jain temple at Varanga, which is also in Karkala taluk).
Neminatha Basadi
The construction of Neminatha Mandira or Basadi here at Hiriyangadi, Karkala, is attributed in an inscription of Bhairava I [1]
The Neminatha basadi now stands renovated with new tiles covering up on the outer side. It is attributed as Neminatha Mandir, meaning Neminatha Temple on one of the signboards in the premises. It was closed at the time, and we could not have a look inside.
This is an east facing temple with its main door at the east side. This temple also has a large entranceway porch on the east side which leads to its inner premises of its enclosure. This entranceway faces the Great Manasthamba.
It has the typical style of the slanted stone roofing but with brick tiles instead of stone slabs, with architecture similar to other basadis such as the Thousand pillared basadi of Moodabidri, but much smaller in size. The caretaker of the Baradi basadi informed us that it was renovated just last year.
We do not know how it looked before, but only two beautifully carved pillars on the front look like original rock pillars. They look old and have a slightly worn out look. The rest of the pillars seem new and covered with glazed tiles, as most of the outer walls.
The Neminatha basadi itself does not have any more stone pillars on the outside. The porch on the front has pillars, but a couple of them seem newer as they seem to have a lesser worn out look.
There are two ornate shrines on the either sides of Neminatha Basadi. They are, Chandranath Swamy Basadi or Eda basadi (meaning left temple) and Adinath Swamy Basadi or Bala Basadi (meaning right temple).
Other Jain Temples around Shri Neminatha Basadi
The Neminatha temple surroundings at Hiriyangadi has five more basadis around the Great Manasthambha pillar, within a total of three enclosures around the manasthambha. A small door through entranceway leads to them inside their enclosure.
While Neminatha Basadi is east-facing, the other Basadis in the complex are not.
On the enclosure towards the right side or the North side of the great manasthambha, there are two Jain temples - the Hallara Basadi and the Gururaya Basadi.
Among them, the Hallara Basadi with Parshwanatha Swamy and Padmawathi Devi as deities. It derives the name Hallara basadi, as it was built by the Hallas.
As it contains an idol of goddess Padmavati Devi, who is called as Ammnavaru, it is also called as Ammanavara Basadi. This basadi also has an idol of Goddess Saraswati. This is a south facing temple.
The Hallara basadi was newly painted at the time of our visit. It has the flat stone roofing with the typical slanted stone shades which is also seen in other older temples of this region. It has a main entrance towards south, with two more doors on either side adjacent to the main door. There is one more entrance towards west, but none towards east.
The other basadi in this enclosure is Gururaya basadi, featuring a Halegannada (Old Kannada) inscription.
To the left side or the South side of the great manasthambha, there are three more basadis, each in an enclosure, all facing towards north. Two are in a sub enclosure in the western side, and one in the eastern side. A wall separates these two sub enclosures. In the western subenclosure, the basadis are smaller in size, but of similar style of architecture.
They are the Baradi basadi or Sri Shanthinatha Swami Guru Basadi on the west side of the sub enclosure, and Ananthanath digambar Jain basadi, or the Kallu Basadi on the east side. These were built by the Baradi family.
As you can see from the pictures, these temples also feature the typical slanted stone shades, and have an architecture similar to Shri Neminatha Basadi.
There is one more small basadi on the eastern side of the Great Manasthambha and it stands within its own small enclosure. This Jain temple is called Adinathesha basadi and it also features the typical slanted stone roofing.
From here, we headed towards Mangalore (now renamed as Mangaluru), making a short stop at the Thousand pillared Basadi at Moodabidri. But we returned to Karkala again last month visiting the Bahubali Gomateshwara monolith and the Manasthambha at Hiriyangadi.
Ananthapadmanabha Temple of Karkala
After visiting the Gommateshwara monolith of Karkala, we headed to the ~448 year old Shri Ananthapadmanabha temple, right inside Karkala town. It is also called Sheshashayi Ananteshwara temple.
Built in 1567 CE, this Hindu temple is one of the protected monuments under the ASI.
When you first look at the temple within the cloistered walls, it looks exactly like a Jain Temple. The temple and the idol of the main deity face towards the west here, while usually the Hindu temples and their main deities typically face towards the east.
The main deity here is the Hindu God Shri Vishnu resting on the coils of his serpent Adisesha. The speciality being that the deity in this sculpture is in the resting form, and not in a standing posture.
This temple was built to be a Jain Basadi, that’s why it looks like one but was turned into a Hindu Temple by the King. The story goes like this. In the year 1567 CE, the then Sringeri Jagadguru came to Karkala.
When the Jain king welcomed him to Karkala, the swamiji told the king that he would stay only if there is a temple there. So the King gave this building which was supposed to be a basadi and it was turned into a temple.
Ramasamudra Lake of Karkala
After a short visit to Anantapadmanabha temple, we headed to Ramasamudra lake. It was evening by then, and we thought of relaxing by the lake. Ramasamudra lake is a historical lake, said to be built by Veera Bhairava in his dead son Ramanatha’s memory.
One access to the lake is through the Karkala municipal “park”. This was supposed to be or at one point of time might have been a maintained park. As of now, it doesn’t seem like a park; but rather looks like the ruins of a park!
Some old concrete benches and rusted playground equipment lie in ruins, with randomly overgrown shrubs, bushes and foliage everywhere. We tried a couple of approaches to the lake, carefully watching out for snakes.
At one approach from above the rocks near the entry, there were some broken bottles on the rocks. As the rocks can get slippery with moisture especially during rainy season, it isn’t recommended to descend or walk here. The view of the lake from here is good.
At another side of the lake, we saw the Bahubali Gommateshwara monolith of Karkala and the structure surrounding it, visible on the hilltop at a distance towards south, and also the Chaturmukha Basadi of Karkala on a hillock at a distance towards south-west.
The lake and the surroundings are undoubtedly beautiful. But the approach and the so called park are in shambles. This place was quite isolated at the time of our visit. So, it may not be a good idea to come here as a couple or alone. Also, there might be snakes lurking in the overgrown shrubbery and the leaves fallen on the land.
The lake however attracts variety of birds, and could be a treat to birdwatchers. Had this park been maintained well, the lake could have been a splendid attraction.
There are however other approaches to the lake from other sides. Its a large lake with a shape that looks like the letter "Y". It can be accessed from near the Bommaraja Basadi going ahead in the Gommateshwara road (Zoom and see below Location Map for Karkala ).
Relaxing some time here we headed back, thus bringing an end to our Karkala trip.
Karkala is a culturally rich place with several historically significant monuments, and a serene natural environment. It has all the potential to be a popular tourist destination.
Other attractions in Karkala
- Chaturmukha Basadi, the Tribhuvana Tilaka Jina Chaityalaya or Ratnatraya dhama built in 1586 CE
- Aane Kere Basadi
- The monolith of Lord Bahubali, the Gommateshwara Statue built around 1432 CE
- St. Lawrence church, popularly known as Attur Church, established in 1759 CE
- The Venkataramana temple, popularly known as “Padutirupathi", meaning West Tirupathi, built in 1537 CE.
- The Veeramaruti temple, originally built in 1539 CE, featuring over 15 feet idol of Lord Hanuman.
- Temples of Varanga - Kere Basadi, a 850 year old The Lake Temple and Neminatha Basadi, a 1200 year old temple.
Tips for Travellers
Getting there & Transportation
Karkala is about 17 kms from Moodabidri, 51 kms from Mangalore (Mangaluru) , 37 kms from Udupi via Moodubelle & 40 kms from Udupi via Manipal-Hiriadka road, 58 kms from Sringeri. Also, Agumbe is ~49 kms ; Venur is ~ 36 kms and Barkur is ~ 49 kms from Karkala.
There are a good number of buses that ply to Karkala from Mangalore, Udupi etc. Hiring a cab or some 4 wheeler is a good option, as you can easily cover other nearby places of attractions worth visiting. If you are visiting Mangaluru or Udupi, then Karkala is well within a day trip. Nearby Moodabidri can also be covered.
Food & Accommodations
There are a few decent places to have food in the town. There aren't much great hotels or lodges in Karkala. However, one can stay in Udupi or Mangaluru, and then travel to Karkala covering other significant places along.
Best Times to visit
During the winter, between October to February or March, before the summer heat begins. It gets extremely hot and humid during summer (March/April to May/June).
If you simply love the monsoon rains, go ahead in rainy season (around June to September). But keep an eye on the weather in the rainy season, as the roads this time may be bad.
Location Map of Places to visit in Karkala
Nearby Places and Attractions
- Moodabidri - Featuring the Thousand Pillared Jain Temple (Saavira Kambada Basadi), and other historical Jain temples. (Just 17 km from Karkala)
- Varanga (~24 Kilometres from Karkala town) - An idyllic village which is home to the 850 year old Kere Basadi (Lake temple) and the Neminatha Basadi, a 1200 year old Jain Temple.
- Mangaluru and Dakshina Kannada district features several beaches, temples and other places worth visiting
- Agumbe – The sunset view point in Agumbe at an elevation of 643 m (2,110 ft) is a very popular spot in Shimoga district.
- Udupi town and district features the famed sri Krishna temple and other temples, St.Mary's island, an ideal picnic spot, and many more.
- Chikkamagalur district features lush green mountains, waterfalls and landscapes. Mullayyanagiri, Kemmannugundi, Baba budangiri, Bhadra wildlife and river camps are some of the major attractions. It also has some fine Hoysala Temples, for example the Amrutesvara Temple at Amruthapura.
- 35 feet Gomateshwara Monolith at Venoor (36 km from Karkala)
- 39 feet Gomateshwara Monolith and Manjunatheshwara temple at Dharmasthala (63 km from Karkala)
References
[2] Anantapadmanabha Temple - ASI Bengaluru circle
[3] Jain Statue of Gomateshwara - ASI Bengaluru circle
[4] Centres of serenity - Deccan Herald