HUMACHA
Humacha (ಹುಮಚ) is a small village of
historical and religious importance, in the Shivamogga
district of central Karnataka at a distance of nineteen kilometers from
Hosanagara the talluk head quarters. This
was known by different variants of its name such as hombucha.
pombuchcha and
patti pomburcha. The word literally refers
to a piece of gold.(Pon)
This scenic village was the capital city of
The ruins of the capital city are to be found at the
base of the Bileshvara hill.
Humacha contains many Jaina temples(basadi) and a solitary
maTha. The earlest basadi was known as pAliyakkana
basadi and and the ruins
of this basadi are now found in the precincts of Panchakuta basadi.
Vikramaditya Santara built another small
basadi in 820 A.D. Chandranatha
basadi was built in the tenth century within the premises
of the maTha.
Humcha has a Jain Monastery, established centuries
back by monks belonging to the Nandi
Sangha of Shri Kund-Kundacharya.
The matha has spacious buildings and maintains the Parshvanatha temple and Padmavati
buildings. Padmavti temple, Marthanda
Basadi, Bogara
Basadi and Jattingaraya Basadi
seem to have been rebuilt in granite using materials of older Hoysala
and Chalukyan temples. This is particularly true of
the pillars and the fine torana(tOraNa) at the door way.
However the
biggest and best known happens to be Panchakuta basadi. This was built in 1077 A.D. by Chattala
Devi in the Chalukyan style.
This contains a solitary navaranga and five
garbhagudis and an open mukhamantapa.
There is a verandah all round the temple. In front of the
basadi is a manastambha which is a magnificent
monolithic pillar and is an interesting piece of work with elegant carvings.
The pillar stands on a high platform which has three tiers. The bottom-most
tier has four elephants at the four corners and four more at the cardinal points.
Lions in different postures are carved in-between these elephants.
Ashta dikpalas with all their retinue
and musicians are carved on the second tier. This small village contains more
than thirty inscriptions.
On the top of a hill close to the village
and overlooking this Matha is another
Basadi dedicated to Bhagwan
Bahubali. An inscription here indicates that the Basadi
was built by Vikramaditya Santara
in 898 A.D. Sculptures and monuments are unearthed
at regular intervals in this region. The Pancha
Matrika sculpture recently found in front of the
Kalleshwara temple is a significant find.
Humacha is thus important not only to the Jaina
piligrims but also to the students of the history of
Karnataka.
References and Links:
1.
My life and my views: Day 1 - Humcha - Jain
Pilgrimage centre