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