World Traveller’s Blog

Thousand Pillars ‘Basadi’

Moodbidri houses 18 Jain temples (basadis). The oldest of them is the 15th century Chandranatha Basadi, which is also known as the 1000 (Thousand) Pillars temple or ‘Savira Kambada basadi‘.

This is a large granite temple built in 1430 A.D. The main entrance of the thousand pillar temple, opens onto a wonderful 15 meter tall monolithic pillar called Mahastamba in front of the doorway.

The 2.5 meter tall bronze idol of Lord Chandranatha Swami in the sanctum hall is considered to be very sacred. The pillars of this basadi are decorated with carvings typical of Vijayanagara style.