Karkala, Abode of Bahabuli

It is located hardly 40 kms from my mils place in Karnad. A direct road connects via Moodbidri to Karkala, enroute one comes across the church of Attur. One gets to pass via the Soans farm in Belvai, Moodbidri too. This farm is built on eco tourism concept. The details of Soans farm can be obtained from the following link : http://www.moodabidri.com/soans/index.html

History : This region was ruled by the Alupa king and Kadambas in ancient times. The local feudatories known as Bhairarasa Odeyas, who owed their allegiance to Hoysalas. Later they followed the patronage of Vijaynagar. Their kingdom extended from Sringeri, Koppa, Balehonnur and Mudigere. The first king Veera Bhairava constructed a number of Basadis at Karkala. A lake known as Ramsamudra was constructed in honour of his second son who died early.


King Veera Pandya commissioned the construction of Bahubali statue on the rocky hill of Karkala. He thus fulfilled the wish of his Guru Lalitakeerti, who was the pontiff of the Jain Mutt. The statue was consecrated to public on 13th February 1432 AD. The Brahma deva pillar was installed in 1436 AD.

The Bahubali statue is built out of monolithic granite raising upto 42 feet in height. One has to climb nearly 400 steps to reach the pinnacle. There is a steel railing installed for support, one can park their vehicles below the hillock. Once in every 12 years Mahamastabisheka is performed when the Lord is bathed in milk, honey, sandalwood, ghee and other anointments.

Chatarmukha Basadi : This basadi was dedicated to the Jain teertankaras and completed in 1586 AD. There are 4 teertankaras located in four directions and the sanctum sanitarium contains the Bahabuli. The construction is undertaken with prevention heavy rain in mind. An arrogant priest with a black specs take care of the basadi, please don t enter with an argument with him.

1000 Pillared Basadi : This basadi was built in 1431 AD according to a stone inscriptions found in the temple premise. It was built by the strong jain community and patronized by Devaraja Wodeyar of Nagamangala. The innumerable pillars add to the temples beauty. Photography is prohibited by the staff, but if one gives a donation to the temple than one is allowed to photograph. Please do not take the trouble of counting the pillars you can hardly find 200 pillars.

Chauta Palace : A wooden palace is located in Moodbidri on the premise of which a kannada film on sale of heritage was filmed. The palace was supposed to have a huge fort boundary which is in various stages of ruin. The palace has a watch tower and it is generally locked, one has to enquire for the caretakers to have a view, which cute structure. The palace is shrouded in mystery with alleged curse of the devi, which bought their downfall. One of the noble belong to the Chauta family Veeravarman was killed. The governance of the rulers came under cloud and the villagers seem to have boycotted the royalty. Earlier to 1855 AD the kings used to visit the local festivity such as kambala, football matches being the chief guest. They used to visit the temple and pay their respects to the devi.

Location :  karkala is located 380 kms away from bangalore, 40 kms away from Mangalore, 35 kms away from Udupi.  It is accessible from Hassan, Belur, Belthangady and Karkala.  The other tourist spots in and around Karkala are Moodbidri, Attur Church, Vennur, Anantsayana temple, Kallikamba Temple, Dharmastala, Jamalabad Fort, and Kukke Subramanya.