Narasimharajapura

About Narasimharajapura (N R Pura) – There are 6 Jain temples at this place. 1) Chandranath temple;2)Parsvanath swami temple;3) Jawalamalaini templeThis place is famous for the miraculous Sasan devi Jwalamalini. The people visit this place to fulfill their vows. 4)Shantinath temple; 5) Math temple and 6) kshetrapal temple.The Samantbhdra Gyanpeeth and Ashram are here. This is also the seat of Bhattarak Shri Laxmisen.

The Current Bhattarakha
The current pontiff of the Jain mutt His Holiness Swasti Sri Lakshmisena Bhattarakha Swamiji was consecrated to the seat of Bhattarakha in 2016. His predecessor was the Bhattarakha from 1976 to 16th December 2014. He had evinced keen interest in the overall development of the place.

Samanthabadhra Acharya & Simhanagadde
Samanthabadhra Acharya occupies a unique name in the lineage of Jaina Acharyas. He is said to belong to around 3rd or 4th century A.D. and his origin is traced to a region around the river Cauvery. After him we can find a series of around 5 Samanthabadhra Acharya’s in the Jain tradition. Of these the third Samanthabadhra belonging to Gerusoppe is said to be associated with Simhanagadde. A copper plate inscription at Simhanagadde mentions that he belonged to 15-16th century. He is said to have brought the idol of Goddess Jwalamalini from Gerusoppe to Simhanagadde.

Jain temples and Other Structures at Simhanagadde

• Temples
  • Jala mandir – This was inaugurated on 25th March 2008 by Smt Hemavathi Veerendra Heggade in the presence of His Holiness Swasti Sri Lakshmisena Bhattarakha Swamiji of the Simhanagadde Jain Mutt and Dr. D.Veerendra Heggade of Dharmasthala. This is a replica of the Jala Mandir at Pavapuri.
  • Sri Bhyrava Kshetrapala basadi – The temple has an ancient idol of Sri Bhyrava Brahma Yaksha in standing posture. The punarpratishapana mahotsava (reinstallation ceremony) of the temple was held on 27th March 2008.

  • Jain Mutt and Sri Bahubali basadi – The temple built in 1962 has a spacious hall and a garbagriha with a pradakshina patha around the garbagriha. It has a 4 feet high black colourd idol of Lord Bahubali in Kayotsarga as the main deity. The bahubali idol was donated by the couple Sri M.C.Anantharajaiah and Smt Kousalyamma of Bangalore and its installation ceremony was held from 22nd – 28th March 1962.
    The Bahubali idol is flanked by idols of Pancha Parameshti, Lord Chandranatha, Goddess Padmavathi and Goddess Jwalamalini. The idol of Goddess Padmavathi was donated by G.P.Dharanappa and his wife Smt Madhurajamma from Ananthapura and its installation ceremony was held from 26th-28th March 1962. The idol of Goddess Jwalamalini was donated by G.D.Jwalanaiah and his wife Smt Padmakumari from Ananthapura and its installation ceremony was held from 26th-28th March 1962. Adjacent to the temple is found the Jain Mutt. To the left of the temple is found an ancient memorial stone embedded on to the wall. This temple was reconstructed in 1988.

  • Sri Chandranatha Swamy basadi – Scholars are of the opinion that this temple might have been constructed initially in 1778. The Panchakalyana pratishta mahotsava of the reconstructed temple was held in 1985. It has a wide hall and a garbagriha. It has a 3 feet high marble idol of Lord Chandranatha in Padmasana seated on a lotus flower as the main deity. It has a gandhakuti and flanked by the idols of Goddes Padmavathi and Goddess Jwalamalini in the hall around the entrance leading to the Garbagriha.

  • Sri Parshwanatha Swamy basadi – It has two halls followed by the Garbagriha. We can find the idols of Goddess Saraswati and Goddess Padmavathi at the entrance to the Garbagriha. These idols were donated by Smt Sushilamma wife of Sri R.P.Shantharaj in memory of her late in laws Sri Ratnagiri Pachhappa and Smt Hombujamma of Ratnagiri on 1st December 1979. The garbagriha has a 3 feet high black coloured idol of Lord Parshwanatha in Kayotsarga as the main deity.

  • Sri Jwalamalini Basadi – This is the most important of all the Jain temples at Simhanagadde.  It has an attractive black coloured idol of Goddess Jwalamalini as the main deity. The history of this idol dates back to the period around 15th & 16th century mentioned earlier in this article. It has a huge followership from across India and abroad. The temple has a very spacious hall and a sanctoum sanctorum. Reinstallation ceremony of the reconstructed temple was celebrated on a grand scale in 1994.

  • Sri Shanthinatha Swamy Basadi – Scholars are of the opinion that the temple was constructed initially by around 1300 A.D. Later it was reconstructed in 1982. The reconstruction of the sanctum sanctorum (garbagriha) was done in 2008.

  • Sri Brahma Yaksha Basadi – The temple has a centrally located stone idol of Sri Brahma Yaksha riding a horse flanked by two Brahma Yaksha idols on either side. Smt & Sri B. Prasanaiah and their son Pramod from Bangalore have donated generously towards the reconstruction of Sri Brahma Yaksha Temple. The reinstallation ceremony of the temple was held on 20th June 2007.

  • Manastambha – The 64 feet high manastambha installed in front of the Shanthinatha basadi consists of a chaturmukha (four face) Shanthinatha Swamy idol. It was installed and inaugurated in 1991.

• Other Buildings/Structures
  • • Mahadwara – There are two Mahadwaras leading to the temple. One of these was inaugurated in the year 1994 and the other in the year 2000 (donated by Smt & Sri Rajkumar Sethi of Calcatta in memory of their late son Anubhav Kumar Sethi).
    • Goshala
    • Brahmacharya Ashrama
    • Bhattarakha Bhavana
    • Vyshali Bhavana – Inaugurated in 1987.
    • Heggade Guest House – Constructed in 1994.
    • Kshetrapala Guest House
    • Yatri Nivas
    • Mataji Guest House
    • Aishwarya Guest House – This was inaugurated on 19th March 2001.
    • Vatsalya Bhavan (Guest House) – This was built by the donations from Sri Mohan Lal Chandravathi Jain Charitable trust, New Delhi in memory of Late Sri Lal Sripal Jain. This was inaugurated on 4th April 2002.
    • Manikya Bhavana – Constructed in 1994.
    • Vyshali Guest House
    • Mahavir Bhavan – This was built in 1996.
    • Office of the Jain Mutt
    • Sri Jwalamalini Girls High School – This school was started on 13th September 1984.
    • Samanthabadhra Gnanapeetha – This was established in 1972-73. It has around 50 students studying here.
    • Jeevan Sandhya Vrudda Ashrama – Home for the aged was started in 1993.
    • Community Hall/Chandra Shale – A very huge community hall on the way to the main temple (Goddess Sri Jwalamalini temple) was constructed by donations from Dr.D.Veerendra Heggade of Dharmasthala. It was inaugurated on 25th March 2008.

Annual Fair (Ratha Yatra) at Simhanagadde
During the early part of 1940s Sri H.S.Dharanappa (S/o Sringeri Puttaswamaiah) and Sri S.P.Manikyaraju of Hassan happened to visit the house of Sri Devaraja Shetty, one of their relatives at Narasimharajapura very often. During their course of visit they happened to learn about Simhanagadde, Goddess Jwalamalini and its antiquity. They felt the need of improving this place and thought that this could happen only if there is a frequent flow of devotees. Hence they decided to conduct an annual ratha yatra on the third day (Phalguna bahula padyami) from the mula nakshatra. They continued with this for five years. The donors from Hassan, Shravanabelagola, Saligrama, Mysore and Sringeri contributed generously for the smooth conduct of Rathayatra. Their contribution is worth mentioning here.
Later, in 1948 the members of the Jain samaj decided to reestablish the seat of Bhattarakha. The Bhattarakha’s since then have taken keen interest in conducting the annual ratha yatra without fail. Since 1944 the ratha yatra has seen 67 editions till date. The devotees from across Karnataka and India pour in large numbers to Simhanagadde during this period.
One might be astonished to hear that the family members of Sringeri Puttaswamaiah have been the donors for annadhana (free food to all) during all editions of the ratha yatra.

Planned Projects

• Construction of a community hall and boarding complex at the district centre Chikamagalur at a cost of Rs. 35 lakhs.
• Establishing free Ayurveda and Yoga centres.
• Publishing of religious books and organizing spiritual seminars.
• Establishing a permanent corpus fund for carrying out all kind of poojas at all the temples of Simhanagadde.

This holy place has stood as a testimony for the religious aptitude of the devotees at large under the able and sacred guidance of His Holiness Swasti Sri Lakshmisena Bhattarakha Swamiji.

How to Reach – This place is 75 kms from Humcha and 55 Kms from Shimoga.One can reach here from Chikamagalur and Shimoga. Good bus facilities are available from Shimoga and Chickamagalur. The lodging and boarding facilities are available here.