Thousand Pillars Jain Temple

Moodbidri, Dakshina Kannada Phone: Not Available

About

Savirakambada Basadi (Thousand Pillars Temple) built in AD 1462 Basadi of 1000 pillars, famous for its stone sculpture. Mahadwar, Bhairadevi, Chitradevi, Namaskaara, Teerthankara and Garbhagruha are the 8 Mantapas here. The idol (8ft high) of Chandranatha is established in the garbha gruha. Supaarshwa and Chandraprabha Theerthankara idols are worth visiting. Navanaari kuinjara , a sculptural art piece that appears like an Elephant but nine dancers is the famous art in this Basadi. It is said that no two pillars are identical. The 2.5 metres tall bronze image of Lord Chandranatha Swami in the sanctum of this basadi is considered to be very sacred. This three storied construction was supported by the rulers, the Jain Bhattaraka Swamiji, merchants and the common people. The temple is famous for the open pillared hall in front, consisting by a large variety of ornate pillars decorated with carvings typical of Vijayanagara style. A 15-meter tall single stone pillar called manastambha stands in front of the basadi. Ratnakara Varni, the medieval Kannada author of Bharatesha Vaibhava belonged to this place. The famous Jain canonical texts known as Dhavala texts and also a number of palm leaf manuscripts of historical and literacy value are preserved in the Jain Math (monastery). Moodabidri was the seat of the Chowtas, a Jain ruling family, who were originally located at Puthige, about 5 km from here. They moved their capital to Moodabidri in the 17th century. The remains of the 17th century Chowta Palace is known for its beautifully carved wooden pillars and ceilings. Moodabidri  an ancient center of Jain learning, is a small town 37 km northeast of the Dakshin Kannada district headquarters, Mangalore, in Karnataka, India. Because of widely grown Bamboo in ancient days, this place got named as Moodabidri. Moodabidri comes from two words Moodu and Bidiru. Moodu means East and Bidiru means Bamboo. This place was also known as Mooduvenupura.