The legend of Kalkuda, who is said to have made the colossal statue at “Belgula,” is narrated at length by Mr. A. C. Burnell.[9] Told briefly, the story is as follows. Kalkuda made a Gummata two cubits higher than at Bēlūr. Bairanasuda, King of Karkal, sent for him to work in his kingdom. He made the Gummatasāmi. Although five thousand people were collected together, they were not able to raise the statue. Kalkuda put his left hand under it, and raised it, and set it upright on a base. He then said to the king “Give me my pay, and the present that you have to give to me. It is twelve years since I left my house, and came here.” But the king said “I will not let Kalkuda, who has worked in my kingdom, work in another country,” and cut off his left hand and right leg. Kalkuda then went to Timmanājila, king of Yēnūr, and made a Gummata two cubits higher than that at Karkal.
In connection with the figure at Srāvana Belagola, Fergusson suggests[10] that the hill had a mass or tor standing on its summit, which the Jains fashioned into a statue.
The high priest of the Jain basti at Karkal in 1907 gave as his name Lalitha Kirthi Bhattaraka Pattacharya Variya Jiyaswāmigalu. His full-dress consisted of a red and gold-embroidered Benares body-cloth, red and gold turban, and, as a badge of office, a brush of peacock’s feathers mounted in a gold handle, carried in his hand. On ordinary occasions, he carried a similar brush mounted in a silver handle. The abhishēkam ceremony is performed at Karkal at intervals of many years. A scaffold is erected, and over the colossal statue are poured water, milk, flowers, cocoanuts, sugar, jaggery, sugar-candy, gold and silver flowers, fried rice, beans, gram, sandal paste, nine kinds of precious stones, etc.
Concerning the statue at Yēnūr, Mr. Walhouse writes[11] that “it is lower than the Kârkala statue (41½ feet), apparently by three or four feet. It resembles its brother colossi in all essential particulars, but has the special peculiarity of the cheeks being dimpled with a deep grave smile. The salient characteristics of all these colossi are the broad square shoulders, and the thickness and remarkable length of the arms, the tips of the fingers, like Rob Roy’s, nearly reaching the knees. [One of Sir Thomas Munro’s good qualities was that, like Rāma, his arms reached to his knees or, in other words, he possessed the quality of an Ājanubāhu, which is the heritage of kings, or those who have blue blood in them.] Like the others, this statue has the lotus enwreathing the legs and arms, or, as Dr. Burnell suggests, it may be jungle creepers, typical of wrapt meditation. [There is a legend that Bāhubalin was so absorbed in meditation in a forest that climbing plants grew over him.] A triple-headed cobra rises up under each hand, and there are others lower down.”
Jain basti at Mudabidure.
“The village of Mūdabidure in the South Canara district,” Dr. Hultzsch writes, “is the seat of a Jaina high priest, who bears the title Chârukirti-Panditâchârya-Svâmin. He resides in a matha, which is known to contain a large library of Jaina manuscripts. There are no less than sixteen Jaina temples (basti) at Mûdabidure. Several of them are elaborate buildings with massive stone roofs, and are surrounded by laterite enclosures. A special feature of this style of architecture is a lofty monolithic column called mânastambha, which is set up in front of seven of the bastis. In two of them a flagstaff (dhvajastambha), which consists of wood covered with copper, is placed between the mânastambha and the shrine. Six of them are called Settarabasti, and accordingly must have been built by Jaina merchants (Setti). The sixteen bastis are dedicated to the following Tîrthankaras:—Chandranatha or Chandraprabha, Nêminâtha, Pârsvanâtha, Âdinâtha, Mallinâtha, Padmaprabha, Anantanâtha, Vardhamâna, and Sântinâtha. In two of these bastis are separate shrines dedicated to all the Tîrthankaras, and in another basti the shrines of two Yakshīs. The largest and finest is the Hosabasti, i.e., the new temple, which is dedicated to Chandranâtha, and was built in A.D. 1429–30. It possesses a double enclosure, a very high mânastambha, and a sculptured gateway. The uppermost storey of the temple consists of wood-work. The temple is composed of the shrine (garbagriha), and three rooms in front of it, viz., the Tîrthakaramandapa, the Gaddigemandapa, and the Chitramandapa. In front of the last-mentioned mandapa is a separate building called Bhairâdêvimandapa, which was built in A.D. 1451–52. Round its base runs a band of sculptures, among which the figure of a giraffe deserves to be noted. The idol in the dark innermost shrine is said to consist of five metals (pancha-lôha), among which silver predominates. The basti next in importance is the Gurugalabasti, where two ancient talipot (srîtâlam) copies of the Jaina Siddhânta are preserved in a box with three locks, the keys of which are in charge of three different persons. The minor bastis contain three rooms, viz., the Garbhagriha, the Tîrthakaramandapa, and the Namaskâramandapa. One of the sights of Mûdabidire is the ruined palace of the Chautar, a local chief who follows the Jaina creed, and is in receipt of a pension from the Government. The principal objects of interest at the palace are a few nicely-carved wooden pillars. Two of them bear representations of the pancha-nârîturaga, i.e., the horse composed of five women, and the nava-nârî-kunjara, i.e., the elephant composed of nine women. These are fantastic animals, which are formed by the bodies of a number of shepherdesses for the amusement of their Lord Krishna. The Jains are divided into two classes, viz., priests (indra) and laymen (srivaka). The former consider themselves as Brâhmanas by caste. All the Jainas wear the sacred thread. The priests dine with the laymen, but do not intermarry with them. The former practice the makkalasantâna, i.e., the inheritance through sons, and the latter aliya-santâna, i.e., the inheritance through nephews. The Jainas are careful to avoid pollution from contact with outcastes, who have to get out of their way in the road, as I noticed myself. A Jaina marriage procession, which I saw passing, was accompanied by Hindu dancing-girls. Near the western end of the street in which most of the Jainas live, a curious spectacle presents itself. From a number of high trees, thousands of flying foxes (fruit-bat, Pteropus medius) are suspended. They have evidently selected the spot as a residence, because they are aware that the Jainas, in pursuance of one of the chief tenets of their religion, do not harm any animals. Following the same street further west, the Jaina burial-ground is approached. It contains a large ruined tank with laterite steps, and a number of tombs of wealthy Jain merchants. These tombs are pyramidal structures of several storeys, and are surmounted by a water-pot (kalasa) of stone. Four of the tombs bear short epitaphs. The Jainas cremate their dead, placing the corpse on a stone in order to avoid taking the life of any stray insect during the process.”
Jain basti at Karkal.
In their ceremonials, e.g., marriage rites, the Jains of South Canara closely follow the Bants. They are worshippers of bhūthas (devils), and, in some houses, a room called padōli is set apart, in which the bhūtha is kept. When they make vows, animals are not killed, but they offer metal images of fowls, goats, or pigs.