Shri Math Basadi

The Panchaparameshti Basadi or the Danashale basadi near the entrance to Akkana Basadi enshrines the Pancha-parameshthi group. The five panchaparameshtis are the Jinas, Siddhas, ACharyas, Upadhyas and the Sadhus.

Jain mutt is a place where the propagator and the server of Jainism lives and under whose guidance the religious activities are conducted in an organised manner. In this direction, the Jain mutt of Shravanabelagola stands foremost. The establishment of the mutt has drawn the due attention of all the sections of people. It is a religious centre acting as a nucleus of all activities of Sri Kshetra.

It is said that Chavundaraya intended to establish a mutt (Dharmapeetha) in Shravanabelagola following the engraving of Lord Gommateshwara in Indragiri to guard the religious values and as a result, Nemichandracharya Siddanthachakravarthi became the head of Dharmapeetha. It was later called Charukeerthi Peetha. In the later days, it was considered as the seat of Shravana culture of Jainism in Karnataka. There is no exact documentary evidence as to when the mutt came into existence. The first mentioning of the munis of the mutt is found in A.D. 1131. The munis were called Charukeerthi Bhattarakha. The incarnation of the religious head of the mutt goes as Chamundarayarchita Padadyaneka Birudavali Virajamanarum i.e. the holy feet of munis were worshipped and enshrined with the title by Chavundaraya. The head of the mutt possessed the name Charukeerthi suffixed with the adjectives like Deva, Pandita, Muni, Bhatha and Panditacharya. The heritage of the Jain Mutt is mentioned in different literary works, inscriptions, palm leaves and manuscripts. Poet Chidananda (A.D. 1750) belonging to the Jain Mutt has cited it in his Munivamshabhuyudaya. It is also mentioned in Ananthakavi’s Gommateshwaracharite. Other Jain poets like Koteshwara belong to the tradition of Jain Mutt.