Babanagar

Cintāmaṇī Pārśvanātha Temple

The Cintāmaṇī Pārśvanātha Temple is situated in the village of Babanagar near Bijapur in northern Karnataka. According to local history, the origins of this temple go back to the early twelfth century. Originally, the temple consisted simply of a square shrine preceded by a wide porch and a small detached pavilion placed before it. During the twentieth century, a large open hall with a concrete roof, stretching from one side of the temple compound to the other, has been constructed at the front of the temple porch and now shelters the formerly freestanding small detached pavilion. The roof of the hall carries a further hall structure at the front of a raised shrine. Unusual is the design of this roof shrine. The inside of the small raised image chamber has entirely been clad with large mirror panes, which endlessly multiply the reflection of the single image of Pārśvanātha contained within. Through this arrangement of the mirrors, the illusion of a never ending number of statues is created, presenting an interesting case where a modern feature has been used to express an ancient idea and iconographic principle typical of Jaina art.