Bengaluru: Etched in the heart of the sprawling Belgaum Fort is an ancient lotus that hasn’t withered in eight centuries.
Belgaum is among the major cities in Karnataka and is also the state’s second capital.
A city bordering the neighbouring state of Maharashtra, Belgaum also known as Belagavi, is home to a wide range of ethnicities.
For centuries it has remained a cultural hotspot and was hotly contested by various dynasties due to its temperate weather and strategic location on the foothills of the Western Ghats.
Its chequered history and shifting influences are visible in its diverse architecture, but none of the city’s heritage gems is as exquisite as Kamal Basadi.
Hidden away from plain sight and protected by the high ramparts of the centuries old fort, this gem is little known, except for those on pilgrim trail or well-versed in history.
Even when you are inside the fort there is no straight access to this 800-year-old architectural masterpiece.
As you glide through the maze of internal roads of the fort, your eyes constantly search for this little appreciated beauty at every bend and turn.
But, this stone-carved blossom unveils itself only at the last moment, appearing out of thick foliage, at the final bend off the Rampart Road.
The crown jewel of Karnataka’s rich Jain heritage, the Shri Neminath Tirthankara Temple, popularly known as Kamal Basadi, is the main attraction of the Historic Belgaum Fort.
Built around the same time as the Belgaum Fort, Kamal Basadi is the oldest heritage structure in and around the fort.
According to the local sources of history, construction of the temple complex began in 1204AD by Bichiraja, a minister of the Ratta Dynasty’s King Kartavirya IV.
Exquisite Craftsmanship
With its intricate carving and stunning stone work, the temple serves as a great testimony to local craftsmanship, representing the best of Jain architecture in South India.
The exquisite stone work of the temple peaks at the magnificent inverted lotus ceiling of the Mukhamantapa (central dome), giving the structure its name.
The inverted lotus inside the tiered dome of the Mukhamantapa is so intricately carved that one can gaze at it for hours, counting the 72 petals, reflecting on their various contours and imagining the artwork in its originality.
Arranged in concentric circles in descending layers and depicting a central blossom of the lotus, each petal has a carved idol of a Tirthankara. To the eight corners of the Mukhmantapa are eight pillars with a deity carved on each. The inner chambers are adorned with lattice screens, floral patterns and delicate work on the pillars and ceilings.
Sitting on the balustrade-supported gallery of the temple’s central arena, one could just wonder what this edifice and its surrounding structures would have been during their heydays!
Though, the citadel has changed many hands and has been rebuilt and reinforced a few times, the Basadi has remained firm in all its granite glory.
Having quietly witnessed the vagaries of time and power around it, Kamal Basadi continues to exude eternal calmness and serenity.
As empires and kingdoms have risen and fallen around it, with new structures taking shape and old order falling apart, Kamal Basadi has stood unaffected as an ageless sage in a reflective repose.
Built in the later Chalukyan style, the temple not only gives us insights into the local architectural styles and skills of the time, but also helps us reflect on how much of the local heritage we have lost.
Located close to the Parbat Ali Gate of the Belgaum Fort, Kamal Basadi has several other heritage structures for company, including the stunning Ranga Mantapa.
Meditative Mantapa
Designed to house the monks and yogis of the time, Ranga Mantapa is a meditative stone building right next to Kamal Basadi that is equally stunning if not more.
A single-storey square structure with an intricately carved facade of pillars and balustrades, the red sandstone building has a central hall and several smaller rooms.
The edifice seems to be merely an outer chamber of what was once a sprawling cultural complex.
Belgaum was once a centre of Jain heritage, but much of the old structures have been lost to time with only a handful of the temples surviving.
Both the Kamal Basadi and Ranga Mantapa are among the biggest attractions of the Belgaum Fort.
The fort has several other heritage structures representing different faiths, including a 700-year-old Dargah, an Adil Shahi era mosque that is out of bounds for visitors for most of the year and a Hindu temple of recent vintage - making it a perfect ambassador of India’s diverse heritage.
-- Shafaat Shahbandari is founder editor of Thousand Shades of India
