Achiyakka Basadi (Akkana Basadi)

An inscription records that Achiyakka, wife of Chandramouli's minister of Hoysala king Ballala II and a disciple of Balachandra Muni, built this Basadi in AD 1181 and endowed the village of Bommanahalli for its upkeep. The Basadi is a fine Hoysala monument, built of soapstone on a star-shaped plan, with a sanctum, sukhanasi, navaranga, and entrance hall. In the sanctum stands a 6-foot-4-inch image of Lord Parshvanatha in kayotsarga posture. Dharanendra is placed to the right and Padmavati to the left. Both four-armed figures are richly ornamented and sit in sukhasana or lalitasana; their attributes include the elephant goad, noose, thunderbolt staff, and citron. The polished dark-blue Shrikara pillars are bell-shaped, and the Bhuvaneshwari ceiling has a finely carved lotus. An approximately eighteen-foot tower rises above the structure; its centre contains a tri-Tirtha composition and its summit bears a lion face. The Basadi's eighty-four-line inscription is engraved in decorative script. Its sculptural panel includes a seated Jina with fly-whisk bearers, Airavata kneeling with a lotus, and Kamadhenu suckling her calf.