The Pandava Caves are located near

Kadri Manjunath temple Kadri Manjunatha Temple is a historic temple in Mangalore in the state of Karnataka, India. The incharge and priests in the temple are Madhva Brahmins. History The temple of Manjunatheshwara on the hills of Kadri is said to be built during th ...

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ke ...

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 ...

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 ...

. Historians found that the current temple was a

Buddhist monastery Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

known as ''Kandarika'' Vihara. The shrine had a standing

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

image in it. This image was replaced by the King ''Kundvarma'' of the ''Alupa'' dynasty, who was a devotee of

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

. However it was not the Buddha but a

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

who was historically integrated with Shiva. Historians concluded that the vihara was originally a centre of the cult of the bodhisattva

Manjusri Mañjuśrī (Sanskrit: मञ्जुश्री) is a ''bodhisattva'' associated with '' prajñā'' (wisdom) in Mahāyāna Buddhism. His name means "Gentle Glory" in Sanskrit. Mañjuśrī is also known by the fuller name of Mañjuśrīkumāra ...

. This temple was one of the famous centres of learning and pilgrimage until the 11th century CE. This particular doctrine opened the doors for Tantric religion. Both Shilinga and the bodhisattva were worshipped for many centuries until the Buddhist temple was converted to a purely Saivite temple. According to the mythological sources,

Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledge ...

stayed here during their exile in the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...

period.

References

{{Indian Buddhist Caves Caves of Karnataka History of Mangalore Buddhist monasteries in India Buddhist caves in India Indian rock-cut architecture Former populated places in India Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India Buddhist temples in India Architecture in India Buddhist sites in Karnataka Buildings and structures in Mangalore Geography of Mangalore