A cure for Kalasarpa Dosha

This is one of the holiest pilgrimage spots of one of the oldest religions of the world. It is barely 54 kilometers away from the royal city of Mysore and yet it is not as widely heard of as other pilgrim centres.

Emperors and Kings patronised the shrine on the hill here and monks and seers performed penance for decades, seeking salvation and nirvana. shrine and pious monks lived here doing their penance for centuries.

The pilgrim centre is all the more famous as Mahaveera, one of the Jain theerthankaras, is believed to have passed through this place, Today, this centre, which is surrounded by lush green forests and captivating wildlife, is slowly emerging from obscurity and it is becoming a major tourist and wildlife attraction.

This is Kanakagiri, one of the holiest of  pilgrim places for the Jains and an unmatched tourist destination which offers a little bit of everything-wildlife, ancient temples, legends and local myths, trekking, Nature and  ever green forests. Add to this good, clean and fairly reasonable accommodation and excellent food at the Jain centre and you have the perfect picnic spot.

Kanakagiri in Chamarajanagar district is 53 Kms away from Mysore and it is adjoining  Maleyuru, the small village which is connected by bus from Mysore,  Nanjangud and Chamarajanagar.

The Kanakagiri hill centuries ago was known as Hemanga Desha and Jain accounts speak of Mahaveera once having passed through this place during his southern sojourn.

What sets this place apart fro other Jain centres such as Shravanabelagola and Moodabidari is its relative seclusion and evergreen surroundings. Set 18 kms from Chamarajanagar, this pilgrim spot was the very place where one of the most famous Jain author, grammarian and scholar, Ācārya Pūjyapāda, lived. The acharya belonged to the Didambara sect of the Jains and before initiation as a Jain ascetic, he was known as Devanandi.

Jains believed and still do that as the Acharya was worshiped by demigods on account of his  scholarship and deep piety, he was named Pūjyapāda.

He was heavily influenced by the writings of his predecessors like Ācārya Kundakunda and Ācārya Samantabhadra. He is rated as among the greatest of the early masters of Jain literature.

He wrote in Sanskrit, in prose as well as verse form. He was a pontiff of the Nandi sangha, which was a part of the lineage of Ācārya Kundakunda. He was the tenth guru of the Sangha. What makes the Acharya and his association with Kanakagiri all the more important to Kannadigas is that he was from a Brahmin family from Karnataka and his parents were Madhava Bhatta and Shridevi.

Ācārya Pūjyapāda was the guru of Emperor Durvinita of the Ganga dynasty and we can, therefore, date his period as having lived between 464 - 524 AD.

He later chose this hillock for his penance and attained salvation here itself. The inscriptions, engravings of footprints, samadhi mantapas and nishadi caves in the hill here throw much light on the heritage of the place as well as the history of Jain religion.

There is an interesting story on how the hill got its name. The Acharya’s nephew Nagarjuna, who lived here, was driven to poverty after the death of his father. He undertook rigorous penance in a cave on the hill and acquired the power to convert everything he laid his hands on into gold. Ecstatic with newly found magical powers, he began to convert the entire hill into gold. However Goddess Padmavathi Devi, who had granted him the boon, prevented him from misusing the boon further and directed him to build a temple.

Nagarjuna then built the present temple of Sri Parshwanatha on the hill. Locals to this day swear that fragments of gold could be seen around the hillock and hence the name Kanakagiri or the hillock of gold. When the temple was completed, it came to be known as Athishaya Kshetra Kanakagiri.

When Hoysala Emperors worshiped here and won a major battle,
they called this place as Vijaya Parshwanatha. The Gangas, Emperors of Vijayanagar and Wodeyar Kings all came here.

Coming to the hill, 370 steps have been cut out from the rock face to enable the devotees to climb up to the hill shrine. A motorable road is also being laid, side by side, to the top. The flight of steps passing through the arches leads to the northern entrance of the temple.
The sanctum has an attractive three foot image of Parshwanatha. The images of Kushmandini and Padmavathi Devi face each other. A rare feature of the images is that the goddesses are believed to be embodiments of Rahu and Kethu respectively.

They are believed to have a special force, Divyashakthi, between them to eliminate the ill-effects of Rahu and Kethu, known as Kalasarpa Dosha. Thus Kanakagiri is the only place where Rahu and Kethu face each other. Thousands of people troubled by planetary effects visit the place and seek solace and solution.

Even Queen Deveerammanni of  the Wodeyars from Mysore visited the temple to find a solution to her problems. Once her problems were solved, she presented a specially made snakehood with the figures of Dharanendra and Padmavathi to the temple.
A walk behind the temple takes you to Nagarjuna Guhe, the cave where Nagarjuna sat in meditation. The pond nearby has fresh water all through the year and this water is used for abhisheka in the temple.

The hill is punctuated by small, pink coloured cells with the footprints of twenty four Jain Thirthankaras. In the centre of the footprints is a large mantapa bearing the footprints of  Pujyapada. The view of the surrounding forests from the top of the hill is panoramic.
The Jain math, at the base of the hill, serves free meals as prasada for all the visitors everyday. Accommodation is also available here.

Maleyuru
Maleyuru village is just three kilometers from Kanakagiri and both share a close bond. It was once one of the important Jain centres in the world and it is well known for its sandalwood.

According to a legend, Princess Jevandara of the Ganga dynasty attained sainthood at the behest of Mahaveera when he visited this place. Many saints undertook penance and attained Kevala Jnana and salvation atop the hill.

Jain ascetics Supratishta Munivarya of Suryapura and Jnanachandra Munivarya preached here to the devotees and thus propagated the principles of Jain religion.

The nearest railway station to approach Kanakagiri is Chamarajanagar.  For accommodation and other details contact  Sri Digambar Jain Mutt, Sri Kshetra Kanakagiri, 571128, Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka: Phone - 91 08226 296786

Nearby is the Survarnavathi reservoir. Large herds of elephants can be seen in the waters of this reservoir during May-June. The scenic beauty of Nature around the dam is breathtaking and is a spot worth visiting.