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The
name of the village Kambadahalli is derived from the lofty Jaina
pillar that stands near its north west corner. The pillar is one
of the most elegant in the state and has an image of seated
Brahma yaksha on its top. To the west of the pillar stands a group of
7 shrines which are perhaps some of the oldest Jaina
monuments of importance in the state. These appear to have been
constructed in at least three stages and to have undergone repairs from
time to time. They are almost completely built of
granite.
Adinatha temple is an earliest
structure and is a cross shaped trikutachala possessing three
Garbhagrihas. It has open sukanasi common navaranga with a
porch of two ankanas, the entire group facing north. The sikharas
are of various shapes, the east one being round, the north one
square and the west one octagonal. The different
faces of each of these is embellished with floral decoration and
contains an arch in the centre. Each of these shikaras again is
bulbous. These shikaras rise on a griva or neck which is well shaped and
is ornamented with pilasters. On the top of the shikara is
carved a lotus. But the Kalasha appears to be missing. The
pinnacles of these temples are very attractive, built in the Vesara, Nagara and Dravida
style of architecture, this kind of architecture cannot be found
in the whole of South India. The probable date of its
construction is 900 A.D.
The inner view of
this temple is comparatively plain except for the sculptured
images installed in it. The central or southern cell has on a
simhapitha an image of Adinathaswami of soapstone. The east
cell contains an image of Neminatha of granite seated on a simhapitha and having two male chamara bearers. In the west cell
is seated Shanthinatha carved of granite, bereft of his
simhapitha and with chamara bearers in each corner.
About ten feet in
front of the porch of the Trikutachala is a pair of twin temples
built facing each other and generally similar in character to
the central shrine of Adinatha in the Trikutachala. There
appears to have been a compound wall enclosing these five
shrines collectively known as the Panchakuta Basadi.
About twenty feet
to the north of the compound wall of this temple is another
large temple dedicated to Shanthinatha Tirthankara measuring 12
feet high. The temple was built by Boppa, the son of General
Gangaraja. The friezes of the basement is ridden with horses, elephants, wild lions and yalis. This frieze is
one of great interest, its workmanship being superior to that
occurring in any Hoysala temple. The building has no towers.
Boppa, son of Ganga Raja, the famous General of Vishnuvardhana,
may have got this temple constructed. The period of this basadi
is probably the early part of the 12th century A.D.
The Bhattaraka peeta that was redundant for more than 300 years was revived in 1998 with Swasti Sri Bhanukeerthi
Bhattaraka Swamiji as the pontiff. Inscriptions at Kambadahalli indicate
that more than 9 Bhattarakas of the Digambara ascetic order have adorned
this peetha. There is a legendary record that once there were more than 72 Jain
temples at this place. Archeological sources confirm that Kambadahalli was
previously known as Kambapuri.
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