Varanga Kere Basadi

A temple standing in the middle of a lake, reached only by boat, holding images of four Tirthankaras.

The Kere Basadi — literally, lake temple — was raised in the twelfth century by Queen Jakaladevi of the Alupa dynasty, a coastal Karnataka royal line whose other temple patronage runs through much of this stretch of the Udupi coast, on a small island in the middle of its own tank rather than on solid ground.

It is built as a chaturmukha, a four-faced plan with an entrance and a principal image on each of its four sides: Parshvanatha, Shantinatha, Anantanatha and Neminatha, each in kayotsarga posture, each facing outward in a different direction — so that whichever side a visitor arrives from, a Tirthankara is already facing them. Reaching it still means what it always has: a short boat crossing, since no causeway connects the temple to the shore.

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