Moodabidri

Also Jain Kashi

A town of eighteen basadis, the Saavira Kambada among them — a thousand-pillared hall where no two pillars repeat.

The Saavira Kambada Basadi, begun in 1430, is the best known: a long hall on carved granite pillars, roofed in tiers in the manner of coastal Karnataka rather than in the northern style.

Moodabidri also holds palm-leaf manuscripts of the Dhavala texts, which are central to the Digambara canon and survive in very few copies.

Written for Jain Times. Corrections are welcome — see sources and licences.