The Jain temple

 temple  Add category

Chathurmukha Basti - The Jain temple, Manjeshwaram- Kasaragod District

Chathurmukha Basti is one of the two Jain Temples at Manjeshwar in Kasaragod district.

Jainism was the first of the non-native religions in Kerala. The remnants of Jainism that once flourished here at Manjeswaram - a major pilgrim centre with scores of temples, churches, mosques and Jain temples - in Kasaragod are major attraction for visitors in north Kerala. The Chathurmukha basti here is an old Jaina temple.

The Jain religion was brought to the South in the third century B.C. by Chandra Gupta Maurya (321-297 B.C.) and the Jain saint Bhadrabahu, according to Jain traditions. These men came to Sravanabelgola in Mysore. Later more Jain missionaries came to Tamil Nadu and converted many Cheras to their religion. Prince Ilango Adigal, the author of Shilappadikaram, is believed to be a Jain. The Jains came to Kerala with the rest of the Chera immigrants starting in the sixth century. The only evidence of their presence in Kerala is the incontro-vertible fact that some Hindu temples of today were originally Jain temples.

The Chathurmukha basti here is an old Jain temple. The advent of Aryan religions like Jainism, Buddhism,and Hinduism from the north changed the Dravidian way of life that existed in ancient Kerala. Jainism was the first to come. The Koodalmanikyam temple in Irinjalakuda, Thrissur district, is believed to have been originally a Jain temple. Jainism started declining in Kerala around the eighth century A.D. and nearly disappeared around the 16th century A.D. Jain shrines still survive in Wayanad, Kasaragod, Alappuzha and Kochi. The Chathurmukha Basti is unique because there are four idols of Vardhamana Mahaveera facing four directions. Hence the name chathurmukha (four faces) and basti (temple).

kerala.indiavideo.org/history/monument/jain-temple-at-k...