Kamthana is a village in

Bidar taluka Bidar taluka is one of the eight talukas of Bidar district Bidar district is the northernmost part of the Karnataka state in India. The administrative headquarters of district is Bidar city. Geographically, it resembles the "Crown of th ...

Bidar district Bidar district is the northernmost part of the Karnataka state in India. The administrative headquarters of district is Bidar city. Geographically, it resembles the "Crown of the State", occupying its northeastern end. It is bounded by Kamared ...

in the Indian state of Karnataka.Village code= 449500 Kamthana, Bidar, Karnataka Kamthana ancient village, Jain Tirtha(pilgrimage) is about 10 km from Bidar, famous for the historical ''Parshavanth Tirthankara Jain temple''. The annual three-day car festival held usually in February.

History

During 753 A.D

Rashtrakuta Rashtrakuta (IAST: ') (r. 753-982 CE) was a royal Indian dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their ...

prince Dantidurga proclaimed himself the sovereign power and Manyakheta (Malkhed) as Capital, built Jain temple. Nishidhis, inscriptions indicates the act of '' sallekhana'' are found in and around Kamthana. Kamthana means ''a place of forgiveness''.

Parshavanatha Teerthankara Jain temple

Kamthana Jainism centre, by Jain munis and shravaks choose this place to seek salvation through ''sallekhana''. ''Srivatsa'' (North Indian tradition), is a diamond-shaped mark on the chest of the Parshvanath. Parshvanath Tirthankara idol is about ''115-cm tall and 55-cm wide'', in the ''paryankasana'' style, sheltered under a seven-hooded serpent, it was installed about 900 years back. A small lamp burns day and night in the cave. The light of the lamp is reflected in 1,000 mirrors plastered on to the wall.

Discovery of Idol

The temple was part of a famous gurukul. For centuries, it provided students with religious and secular education free of cost. The gurukul and the temple was taken great care for over a century under the rule of the Nizams of Hyderabad. A Jain muni, Sri Shruta Sagar, rediscovered it in 1987. He began work on renovating the temple and organised an annual rath yatra, says Vijay Kumar Jain, Secretary of the Bidar Jain Milan. The temple trust is planning to revive the gurukul. The building plans are ready and donors have come forward to adopt students, he said. "The temple was just a cave when the muni found it. It had a 1,100-year-old, life-size black stone statue of Sri Parshwanath, the 23rd Thirthankara. The muni told us that students and teachers of the gurukul used the cave to meditate. We shifted the statue to the first floor. We renovated the cave and built a Shikhara. That is why the temple has three floors," explains Shantinath, the head priest.

Demographics

India census, Kamthana had a population of 9634 with 4956 males and 4678 females.

References

External links