Humcha / Hombuja is a small village near
Ripponpet
Ripponpeté is a small town located in Hosanagara Taluk, Shivamogga district, Karnataka, India.and it is center point of four taluks they are Shimoga sagara thirtahalli and hosanagra, the town is a gateway to the Malenadu (Malnad) region of ...
,
Hosanagara
Hosanagara is a panchayat town in Shimoga district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is nested in western ghats of India. The World Cattle Conference with main emphasis on cow was held in month of April 2007 in Hosanagar. The different use ...
taluk in
Shimoga district
Shimoga district, officially known as Shivamogga district, is a district in the Karnataka state of India. A major part of Shimoga district lies in the Malnad region or the Sahyadri. Shimoga city is its administrative centre. Jog Falls view po ...
in the
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n state of
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
. Humbaja Atishaya Jain Teerth Kshetra is famous for being home to an ancient temple of
Goddess Padmavati
Padmavati (, ) also known as Alamelu Manga is a Hindu goddess and the consort of the deity Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu. She is described as a daughter of local king and an avatar of goddess Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu.
The most promi ...
, and to the Humbaj ''
Matha
A ''matha'' (; sa, मठ, ), also written as ''math'', ''muth'', ''mutth'', ''mutt'', or ''mut'', is a Sanskrit word that means 'institute or college', and it also refers to a monastery in Hinduism. '' (seminary/monastery), an important institution of the
Jain
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
community. This temple is considered to be very holy and is known for its cultural and historical heritage. Other notable highlights of the place are a lake that reputedly never dries up and a tree that likewise always remains green.
Jain devotees of this holy place are everywhere throughout India and also in foreign countries. Thousands of devotees come to the Hombaja every year for fulfillment of their desires.
History
Humcha is an important Jain pilgrim centre from the period of 8th - 16th century. Santara rulers made it their capital.
Santara dynasty
Santara or BhairarasaAlternate forms of the dynasty's name include Santha, Santa, Santhara. They kings of the dynasty also attached titles like Pandya and Odeya to their names. is a medieval ruling dynasty of Karnataka, India. The area covere ...
The History of this region is also associated with Santara or Bhairarasa dynasty. Santara or Bhairarasa is the name of a medieval ruling dynasty of Karnataka, India.
Jinadatta Raya, a Jain prince from Mathura in Northern India was the supposed founder of the dynasty. He is said to have migrated to the town of Humcha with an idol of the Jain deity Padmavati, laying the foundation of the kingdom in Humcha. The area covered by their kingdom included territories in the Malenadu region as well as the coastal districts of Karnataka. The dynasty founded by Jinadatta appears to have split into two branches by the 12 century C.E. One branch being stationed in Hosagunda of Shimoga district and Kalasa in the Western ghats, chikkamagalur district. Gradually these branches (or only the Kalasa branch) shifted their capitals to Keravashe (14 km north-east of Karkala) and Karkala both in the old South Canara district. Hence the territory they ruled was also known as the Kalasa-Karkala kingdom.
Edgar Thurston
Edgar Thurston CIE (1855– 12 October 1935) was the British Superintendent at the Madras Government Museum from 1885 to 1908 who contributed to research studies in the fields of zoology, ethnology and botany of India, and later also publish ...
mentions that the Bhairarasas or Santaras were among the powerful
Bunt Bunt may refer to:
* Bunt (community), an elite social group from Karnataka, India
* Bunt (baseball), a batting technique in baseball
* Bunt (sail), a part of a ship's sail
* Bunt Island, island in Antarctica
* The Bunt, nickname of the Bunting ...
chiefs who seem to have exercised control over a greater part of the
Tuluva
The Tulu people or Tuluvas are an ethno-linguistic group from Southern India. They are native speakers of the Tulu language and the region they traditionally inhabit is known as Tulu Nadu. This region comprises the districts of Dakshina Kannada ...
country before the rise of the
Vijayanagara Empire
The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hinduism, Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana an ...
. The Santaras were Jains and had matrimonial relations with the Saivite Alupa royal family of the canara region. The Santaras built a number of Jain monuments and were responsible for the spread of Jainism in the Tulu Nadu and Malenadu region of Karnataka. During this period the Santara ruler Veera Pandya Bhairarasa erected the monolith of Bahubali in Karkala.
The Santaras became the feudatories of the Vijayanagara Empire after its rise.
The dynasty passed into oblivion after invasions by the Nayakas of Keladi and later by Hyder Ali
The Jain Matha (Mutt) at Hombuja
![HUMCHA TEMPLE (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/HUMCHA_TEMPLE_%28cropped%29.JPG)
The
Bhattaraka
A Bhaṭṭāraka ( pka, भट्टारक "holy one") heads traditional Digambara Jain institutions. He is responsible for training scholars, maintenance of libraries, managing endowments, presiding over installation ceremonies and running ...
seat at Humcha, famous for the Humcha
Padmavati
Padmāvatī may refer to:
Deities
* Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of fortune
* Alamelu, or Padmāvatī, a Hindu goddess and consort of Sri Venkateshwara of Tirupati
* Manasa, a Hindu serpent goddess
* Padmavati (Jainism), a Jain attendant goddess ( ...
temple, was founded in the ''8th century AD'', during the reign of Jinadatta Raya, founder of the ruling dynasty of
Santara. We can find first references of Santharas in the inscriptions installed by the Chalukyan king Vinayaditya. Santhara kingdom was established by Jinadattaraya. He was a staunch follower of Jainism and had donated a village by name Kumbhasikapura for carrying out day to day abisheka of Jain idols.
Vikrama Santha had built a separate residence to his guru Mouni Siddantha Bhattaraka of kunda Kundanvaya tradition in 897 A.D. The Gudda Basadi was built by him and he had donated the idol of Lord Bahubali to be installed at the temple. Bhujabali Santha had built a Jain temple at Hombuja and had named it after him. Further, he had donated the village Harivara for the well being of his guru Kanakanandi deva. Nanni Santha, brother of Bhujabali Santha was a staunch follower of Jainism & was very much involved in pooja and other rituals.
An inscription of A.D. 1103 states that Malla Santha in memory of his wife Veera Abbarasi and in honour to his Guru Vadigaratta Ajithasena Pandita Deva had laid the foundation stone of a temple at Hombuja. This temple was built in front of the present Pancha Basadi. Bhujbalaganga Permadi (A.D. 1115) one of the rulers of Hombuja had renovated a temple and had donated several villages to it. This temple was built by Dadiga and Madhava the founders of Ganga kingdom. Nanniyaganga, son of Bhujabalaganga renovated the same temple in A.D. 1122 and donated some lands to the temple. Nanniyaganga built 25 Jain temples for popularising the religion. Veerasantha (A.D. 1172) who succeeded Nanniyaganga was called as "Jinadevana Charana Kamalgala Bhrama" as a mark of respect to his contribution to Jainism.
In 1048 AD, the Mahamandaleshwara Chandarayarus made a donation to a Bhattaraka of Balagara-gana at Balligame near Banavasi in present-day
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
. Thus, the Bhattaraka seat at Humcha may be one of the oldest of its kind. The most widespread Bhattaraka order has historically been the MulaSangh-NandiSangh-BalatkaraGana-SaraswatiGachchha (
MNBS) order. It has seats at
Surat
Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...
,
Idar
Idar may refer to:
People
* Idar Andersen (born 1999), Norwegian road racing cyclist
* Idar Kreutzer (born 1962), Norwegian businessperson
* Idar Kristiansen (1932–1985), Norwegian poet, novelist, short story writer and non-fiction writer
* ...
,
Ajmer
Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "''Aj ...
,
Jaipur
Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...
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Chittor
Chittorgarh (also Chittor or Chittaurgarh) is a major city in Rajasthan state of western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgarh District. It was a major stronghol ...
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Nagaur
Nagaur is a city and municipal council in Nagaur district of the state of Rajasthan in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Nagaur District. The Nagaur city lies about midway between Jodhpur and Bikaner.
Nagaur is famous for spices ...
,
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
,
Gwalior
Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...
,
Chanderi
Chanderi, is a town of historical importance in Ashoknagar District of the state Madhya Pradesh in India. It is situated at a distance of 127 km from Shivpuri, 37 km from Lalitpur, 55 km from Ashok Nagar and about 46 km f ...
,
Sironj
Sironj is a town and a municipality in Vidisha district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Demographics
India census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a g ...
and many other places. There are perhaps hundreds of thousands of Tirthankara idols, spread across the country from Surat to Decca (in Bangladesh), bearing inscriptions mentioning this order. Most of these idols were installed by the Bhattarakas of this order in the past seven or eight centuries. Many of these Bhattarakas were great scholars and prolific authors.
The ancient institution at Humcha is the original home of the MNBS order. It is headed by Sri Devendrakeerthi Bhattarakha Swamiji. He is the only existing Bhattaraka of the MNBS order, since all the Bhattaraka seats in
north India
North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...
became extinct in the early part of the 20th century. Several
Jain
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
organizations are run by the institute at Humcha. This temple also features a 21 feet idol of Lord
Parshvanatha
''Parshvanatha'' (), also known as ''Parshva'' () and ''Parasnath'', was the 23rd of 24 ''Tirthankaras'' (supreme preacher of dharma) of Jainism. He is the only Tirthankara who gained the title of ''Kalīkālkalpataru (Kalpavriksha in this "Kal ...
.
The Panchakuta Basadi was built in 1077 by Chattaladevi.
An annual Rathayatra Mahotsava of Lord Parshwanatha and Goddess Padmavati is held with other programmes at Humcha during the months of March/April under the guidance of Devendrakeerthi Bhattarakha Swamiji.
Important events during annual Rathotsava are
* Ganadhara Valaya Aradhana
* Kalyana Mandira Aradhana
* Bhaktamara Aradhana
* Nagavahanotsava
* Simhavahanotsava
* Pushparathotsava
* Moolanakshatra
* Maharathotsava
* 108 Kalasha Abhisheka to Lord Parshwanatha at Guddada Basadi
* Kunkuma Utsava & Dhwajarohana
See also
*
Balatkara Gana
Balatkara Gana is an ancient Jain monastic order. It is a section of the Mula Sangh. It is often termed ''Balatkara Gana Sarasvati Gachchha''. Until the beginning of the 20th century it was present in a number of places in India. However all it ...
*
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current ...
*
Jainism in Karnataka
Karnataka, a state in South India has a long association with Jainism, a religion which enjoyed patronage of major historic kingdoms in the state such as the Rastrakuta Dynasty, Western Ganga, Kadamba and Chalukya dynasties and the Hoysala E ...
References
External links
Website Dedicated to Humcha, Parsvanath and PadmavatiVideo linkHombuja Jain Math official website{{Jainism Topics
Jain temples in Karnataka
Villages in Shimoga district
8th-century Jain temples