Bathery Jain Temple


Jain temple in bathery is one of the most important Jain temple in Kerala. The  Bathery Temple in Sulthan Bathery is believed to have been built during the 13th century. Its design is influenced by the architectural style of the then reigning Vijayanagar Dynasty. The temple has an interesting history, which first served as a shrine, next as a centre of commercial trade and finally, as the ammunition store or battery of Tipu Sulthan’s army. The town, Sulthan Bathery, derives its name from that use.
Sultan Bathery is a historical place and its ancient history goes in sync with the history of Wayanad.The recorded history of this district exists only from the 10th century onward. In 930 AD, emperor Erayappa of Ganga Dynasty led his troops to south west of Mysore and after conquering, called it Bayalnad meaning the land of swamps. After Erayappa, his sons Rachamalla and Battunga fought each other for the new kingdom of their father’s legacy. Rachamalla was killed and Battunga became the undisputed ruler of Bayalnad. In 12th century AD, Gangas were dethroned from Bayalnad by Kadamba dynasty of North Canara. In 1104 AD Vishnuvardhana of Hoysala invaded Bayalnad followed by Vijayanagara dynasty in 16th century. In 1610 AD Udaiyar Raja Wadiyar of Mysore drove out Vijayanagara General and became the ruler of Bayalnad and the Nilgiris. Bayalnad is the present Wayanad.
The town of Sulthan Bathery was earlier known as Ganapathi Vattam and had 12 traditional Jain streets in and around the town. The Jain influence in the culture and life of Sultan Bathery is very famous and the history of Jain migration to the region starts from 12th century. In the 16th century too there was a major migration of the Jain community to bathery and they came here mainly as traders, dealing with  the cash crops.  Now there are only a few Jain families which remain here and they belong to the Digambar sect, locally known as Gowdas. 

The temple is known for its amazing architecture and sculptures. It was built with large granite pillars that are extensively carved. The temple is mostly plain from outside with few nice carvings in the inner section. There is a detached pillared mandapa on the front side of the temple without roof which is known as Namaskara mandapa. The main structure has a mukhamandapa following by the mahamandapa and the sanctum. The sanctum has few small statues of Jain Tirthankaras, but the main seat of the sanctum is empty and no poojas are performed here. The doorways of Sanctum and Mahamandapa have sacred Jain figures. The lower portion of the doorway has beautiful floral motifs. The pillars have various designs such as sarpabandha, floral designs, Thirthankara, Goose.
Visit Coffee Trail Resort ,Wayanad
Location: Wayanad, Kerala, India

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