'Simhanagadde, a holy place for Jains'

There are several historical stories related to kshethra. It is said that ‘Saluva’s were ruling Gerusoppe which is 18 miles away from Honnavar in Uttara Kannada district.

Of all the Basadis  built by the rulers, the Basadi at NR Pura has survived. It was said that Srisamanthrabhadra swamy of Gerusoppe was the devotee of Jwalamalini Goddess.

He was into propagation of the religion. One day, the Goddess who appeared in his dream asked him to shift the idol to those place where lion and cow live harmoniously.

As per the direction of the Goddess, the seer started searching for the place and found calves and cubs playing together near Narasimharajapura taluk. The seer installed the statue of Sri Jwalamukhi and named the place as Simhanagadde. Srisamanthabhdra, Veerasena, Gunabhadracharya and other Jain seers had meditated in the region.

There is Chandranathaswamy, Shanthinathaswamy, Parshwanathaswamy, Bahubali Swamy, Jwalamalini, Kshethrapala Brahmayaksha basadis in the region.