Chavundaraya basadi or Chamundaraya basadi or Boppa-Chaityalya is one of the fifteen basadis ( Jain temples) located on the

Chandragiri Hill Chandragiri is one of the two hills in Shravanabelagola in the Indian state of Karnataka, the other one being Vindhyagiri. It is also designated as Indragiri. History The recorded history surrounding the hill started in 300 BC when last '' ...

Shravanabelagola Shravanabelagola (pronunciation: ) is a town located near Channarayapatna of Hassan district in the Indian state of Karnataka and is from Bengaluru. The Gommateshwara Bahubali statue at Shravanabelagola is one of the most important tirthas ...

in the Indian state of Karnataka.

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

has listed the Chavundaraya basadi in group of monuments in Shravanabelagola as ''Adarsh Smarak Monument''.

History

Chavundaraya basadi was erected by

Chavundaraya ''Cāmuṇḍarāya'' or Chavundaraya (Kannada ''Cāmuṇḍarāya, Cāvuṇḍarāya'', 940–989) was an Indian people, Indian Jain ruler. He served in the court of the Western Ganga dynasty of Talakad (in modern Karnataka, India). A perso ...

during the reign of

Ganga The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary riv ...

King Marasimha II in 982 CE and completed by Chavundaraya's son Jinadeva. The idol of

Neminatha Neminātha (Devanagari: नेमिनाथ) (Sanskrit: नेमिनाथः), also known as Nemi and Ariṣṭanemi (Devanagari: अरिष्टनेमि), is the twenty-second tirthankara of Jainism in the present age (). Nemina ...

, flanked by Chauri bearers, is believed to installed by Hoysala period attributing to the characteristics matching Hoysala art. The temple is also known as ''Sruta-tirtha'' () because 10th century Jain Acharya

Nemichandra Nemichandra (fl. c. 975), also known by his epithet Siddhanta Chakravarty, was a Jain acharya from present-day India. He wrote several works including '' Dravyasamgraha'', '' Gommatsāra'' (''Jivakanda'' and ''Karmakanda''), ''Trilokasara'', '' ...

composed

Gommatsāra ''Gommatsāra'' is one of the most important Jain texts authored by ''Acharya'' Nemichandra Siddhanta Chakravarti. History ''Gommatsāra'' was written by Nemichandra in 10th century CE in Prakrit. It is based on the major Jain text, Shatkha ...

here. The temple underwent improvement in the 12th century under the rule of

Chola Empire The Chola Empire, which is often referred to as the Imperial Cholas, was a medieval thalassocratic empire based in southern India that was ruled by the Chola dynasty, and comprised overseas dominions, protectorates and spheres of influence ...

. The pyramidal

shikhara ''Shikhara'' (IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chamber ...

crowned with domical finial is example of

Chola architecture The period of the imperial Cholas (c. 850 CE – 1250 CE) in South India was an age of continuous improvement and refinement of Chola art and architecture. They utilised the wealth earned through their extensive conquests in building long-las ...

. In , a pillared porch was added to the temple complex.

Architecture

Chavundaraya basadi along with Suparshwanath, Kattale and Chandragupta basadi is considered the most important for the architecture in Jain temple complex of

with Chavundaraya basadi as the finest and largest. This temple is built in

Dravidian architecture Dravidian architecture, or the Southern Indian temple style, is an architectural idiom in Hindu temple architecture that emerged from Southern India, reaching its final form by the sixteenth century. In contrast with North Indian temple styl ...

and famous for its artistry. The temple houses a ''

garbhagriha A ''garbhagriha'' () is the innermost sanctuary of Hindu and Jain temples, often referred to as the "holy of holies" or " sanctum sanctorum". The term ''garbhagriha'' (literally, "womb chamber") comes from the Sanskrit words ''garbha'' for ...

'', ''pradakshinapatha'', open ''sukansi'', ''navaranga'' and '' mukhamandapa''. Above the

is a ''dvitala

vimana Vimāna are mythological flying palaces or chariots described in Hindu texts and Sanskrit epics. The "Pushpaka Vimana" of Ravana (who took it from Kubera; Rama returned it to Kubera) is the most quoted example of a vimana. Vimanas are also menti ...

''. The garbhagriha houses an idol of

flanked by Chauri bearers and the one first floor of the vimana houses the image of Parshavanatha installed by Jinadeva in 985 CE. Chavundaraya basadi is a two-story shrine with a

built-in Dravidian style. This temple is the largest shrine in Shravanabelagola with ornamental niches with figures of

yakshi Yakshinis or Yakshis (, , Prakrit: ) are a class of female nature spirits in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious mythologies that are different from Devas and Asuras and Gandharvas or Apsaras. Yakshinis and their male counterparts, the Yaks ...

and

Jain monks Jain monasticism refers to the order of monks and nuns in the Jain community and can be divided into two major denominations: the ''Digambara'' and the '' Śvētāmbara''. The monastic practices of the two major sects vary greatly, but the ...

padmasan Lotus position or Padmasana () is a cross-legged sitting meditation pose from ancient India, in which each foot is placed on the opposite thigh. It is an ancient asana in yoga, predating hatha yoga, and is widely used for meditation in Hind ...

posture. The build Western Gangas style. The architecture of this temple was influenced by Chalukyan style in

Aihole Aihole (ಐಹೊಳೆ), also referred to as Aivalli, Ahivolal or Aryapura, is a historic site of ancient and medieval era Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monuments in Karnataka, India that dates from the sixth century through the twelfth century C ...

and

Badami Badami, formerly known as Vātāpi (Sanskrit: from ''āpi'', ‘friend, ally’; ‘having the wind (vāta) as an ally’; Kannada script: ವಾತಾಪಿ), is a town and headquarters of a taluk by the same name, in the Bagalkot district o ...

temple complex. The mulnayak of the temple is a black-coloured idol of Neminatha. The temple also houses an idol of Ambika seated under a mango tree with ''amra-lumbi'' (mango tree branch) in the right hand and citron in left. File:Views at Chandragiri hills, Shravanabelagola (38).jpg,

Shikhara ''Shikhara'' (IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chamber ...

of temple File:Melina basti, on second storey of Chavundaraya basti.jpg, Melina basti, on second storey of Chavundaraya basadi File:Sanctum guarded by a Yaksha and a Yakshi in the Chavundaraya Basadi at Shravanabelagola.jpg, Sarvahana and Ambika

Protection

The temple is protected as a monument of national importance by the

References

Citations

Sources