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1914). JAINA GAZETTE.
333 in the inscriptions engraved on it, as “ Tribhuvana (hudamani Chait.yalaya” or the Abode of Lord Jina, who is the Gem of the three worlds. This Basti is dedicated to Sri Chandrapath, the 8th Tir-Thankara. This building consists of 3 storeys and was constructed in 20 years (from 1429 to 1449). This is the most important and beautiful of the Bustis. The style of Architecture adopted in the construction of these Bastis stands unique.
In the early morning of the 8th November the Governor and party motored to Karkala and visited the statue of Sri Gamata Swami. The Basti here, His Excellency was pleased to learn, is the oldest Jaina Temple in South Canara and bears the earliest inscription that has been found, 1334 A. D. The statue is a monolithic one erected in 1432 by King Vira Pandia who seems to have been a Jain feudatory of Vidyanagara at Ikkeri above tbe ghals, but his successors seem to have been bigoted Lingaits. The great l'igraha or Idol, represents Sri Baliu balin, son of Lord Sri Vrishabha Deva, the First Great Master or Tir-Thankara, and is about 45 feet in height.
His Excellency and party, after seeing the Manasthamba, a single shaft of beautifully carved pillar, 33 feet high, returned to the camp.
In the afternoon, the Governor and party visited Venor, a forgotten Jain centre, about 12 miles froin Dudabidri. The remains of buildings and palaces there show that it was once a great flourishing town.
C. S. MALLINATH.
The necessity of Chawls for the Poor and
Middle Class Jains in Bombay.
AN APPEAL TO WEALTHY JAINS. Though the question above referred to bas been discussed on previous occasions, I once more take this opportunity of inviting the attention of the wealthy men of our Community
by giving some reliable figures of percentage of death-rate Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
