4 Thirthankaras sh(r)ine here

The Bangara Manjeshwara Chandranatha Swami Jain Temple at Hosangadi is the only ‘Chathurmukha’ Jain temple in Kerala. The temple has the prathishtas of four Thirthankaras which is not common in all Jain temples. Jains follow the teachings of 24 special jinas who are known as Thirthankaras. Those who rediscover and preach the dharma are called Thirthankara. Thirthankaras are not regarded as deities in the pantheistic or polytheistic sense, but rather as pure souls that have awakened the divine spiritual qualities that lie dormant within each of us.

The Thirthankaras installed here are Adinatha Tirthankara (1st Thirthankara), Chandranatha Thirthankara (8th Thirthankara), Shanthinatha Thirthankara (16th Thirthankara) and Mahaveera Thirthankara (24th Thirthankara). The temple which is situated on top of a small hill is more than 800 years old. It is believed that Bangara Arasu (Bangara King) built the temple.

The temple is situated at Bangara Manjeshwar which is one kilometer interior from Hosangadi in Kasargod district of Kerala. The temple is surrounded by wall and has four doors on four sides which lead to the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. The sanctum sanctorum also has four entries on all the four sides of which, one each leads to each of the Thirthankara. Earlier, four priests were separately offering poojas for the four Thirthankaras and each priest used to enter through separate door to perform the pooja.

Other than the four Thirthankaras, there is a Devi Padmavathi’s (a yakshi) idol and naaga prathishta in this temple. Naaga prathista in the temple is believed to be very powerful. The daily poojas are offered between 7.30 am and 9 in morning while special poojas are performed on Tuesdays. The main celebrations in the temple takes place during the Navarathri time.

Another attraction of the temple is the mural paintings of ‘Dwarapalakas’ which are said to be 800 years old. The paints used for the paintings were made up of leaves. The paintings still exist the same without considerable changes.

There is one more small Jain temple known as Sri Parswanatha Swamy Temple, just metres away from Chandranatha Swami Jain Temple, which is also hundreds of years old. The temple has the prathista of 23rd Thirthankara, Parswanatha.