NHAI’s plans to widen highway has threatened many a monumental sites.
This town could be Karnataka’s answer to old Goa’s World Heritage Village at Velha with its Cathedral of Bom Jesus and the ruins of the St Augustine’s Towers.
Moodbidri, 37 km from Mangalore, is known for the largest concentration of heritage sites in Karnataka—there are 21 sites within a radius of 1 km. Sometime ago, a group of elders from the town submitted a proposal to the government for naming Moodbidri as a heritage town, along with a master plan for renovating the structures prepared by architect Niren Jain. The government is yet to take any action.
“All heritage structures in Moodabidri are living monuments; they are used for daily prayers by pilgrims and locals. Unregulated construction, however, is mushrooming all around the heritage sites without any control or sensitivity,” regrets Jain.
“Moodabidri is known as a town with 18 basadis (Jain shrines) and 18 keres (‘kere’ means water tank in Kannada). Of the 18 tanks, only four remain today. The basadis were established between the 15th and 16th centuries. Some have been certified by ASI as heritage sites, while others are languishing for want of documentation,” he says.
The history of the two-story Tribhuvana Tilaka Chudamani (it is also called the 1,000 pillar basadi), a rare piece of Jain architecture, dates back to 1,430 AD. The elders had proposed that a light and sound programme highlighting the area’s historical nature be organised, but the department of tourism did not show any interest. They received only `5 lakh from the local MLA’s area development fund in 2010, which was used for illuminating the structure.
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) authorities say that the Moodbidri Jain math, which owns the basadi, should hand it over to ASI for restoration and protection, as the math does not have the means for maintaining the structure.
HH Charukirti Bhattaraka Panditacharyavarya of Moodbidri Jain Math counters, “Tribhuvana Tilaka Chudamani is a living monument. Jain pilgrims from all over the country visit the shrine and offer pujas; so we have to maintain the temple for helping the pilgrims. I do not think it will be a deterrent for ASI to take up restoration work.”
Many of these heritage structures are now threatened because of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)’s plans to widen the highway passing through the town. The elders have appealed to the Karnataka government and NHAI to not to widen the road. Meanwhile, they still await that elusive nod.
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