BELAGAVI: The 816th anniversary of the consecration of the ancient Kamal Basadi, a Jain temple in the Belagavi fort, was marked on December 25. The temple was built by Bichiraja, a minister in the court of Kartavirya IV of the Ratta dynasty in 1204 CE.
The temple is managed by Shree Shree 1008 Neminath Tirthankar Digambar Jain Mandir (Kamal Basadi) Pooja Committee and comes under the purview of the Archaeological Survey of India. On the initiation of Rajeev Doddanavar and Vinod Doddanavar of the Bharatesh Education Trust, a special postal cover was released on December 23 as a prelude to the anniversary of the iconic monument.
A special picture postcard and a cancellation stamp were also released. A programme was organised on the Basadi premises on Friday under the guidance of Vatsalya Varidhi 108 Shri Vardhman Sagar Maharaj and Sangh who are in Belagavi to observe Chaturmas.
Acharya Shree spoke about the significance of the temple. Munishree Hitendra Sagarji connected the dots between the significance of the lotus, Bhagwan Neminath Tirthankar and the Namokar Mantra recited by Jains. The programme, hosted by Vinod Doddanavar, was inaugurated by MLA Abhay Patil, Rajeev Doddanavar, Secretary, Bharatesh Education Trust P P Doddanavar and others.