Jainism in North Karnataka

Imbued with religious feeling, patronage was extended towards the building of Jain temple and it garnered high repute among the people, particularly the ruling classes and the mercantile community; effectively getting treated as the state religion.

Basadi is a Jain monastery or temple where an image of one of the twenty-four tirthankaras (saints) is installed and worshipped.

The earliest dated structure is a basadi at Halasi built under the Kadamba Dynasty of Banavasi laying the foundation for Jain architecture in North Karnataka.

The Jaina monuments of the Rashtrakutas period are found at Pattadakal, Malkhed, Lakshmeshwar, Koppal, Bankur, of North Karnataka.

Important among them is the Parsvanatha Basadi at Ron with its exquisitely carved grills depicting gandharvas in scrollwork.

[7] Jain Narayana temple located on the Pattadakal, was built in the Dravidian style by the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta in 9th century.

This temple was built during the period of Krishna III, by Padmabbarasi, the queen of Ganga Permadi Bhutayya in 950 AD.

The temple features a 61 feet (18.6 m) tall monolithic idol of Parshvanatha and the smaller statues of other eight tirthankaras.