Karkala dates back to the beginning of the 10th century. The town was called
Pandya Nagari during the period of
Jain rule. The
Alupas were the first to rule the region who were Originally
Jain rulers, and their rule was followed by the
Santaras, who were the feudatories of Alupas for many years. The town attained political and cultural importance from the time of the Kalasa-Karkala
kingdom that was established by King Bhairava between 13th and 16th centuries. The royal family of Karkala rose to prominence from the time of the rule of the
Hoysalas. During the
Vijayanagara period this family reached new heights of glory as their kingdom extended over a wider area comprising
Sringeri,
Koppa,
Balehonnur and
Mudigere in
Chikamagalur and most of the
Karkala taluk. King Veera Bhairava constructed the
basadis at Karkala and endowed land and money to numerous temples and
basadis. Ramanatha and Veerapandya were his two sons and Ramanatha died early during his father's time. So In his memory, a scenic lake called Ramasamudra was created, which still survives to this day. King Veera Pandya, at the insistence of his Guru Lalitakeerti, the pontiff of Karkala Jaina Math, installed a large statue of Bahubali on the rocky hill of Karkala. The date of the installation has been ascertained as 13 February 1432. He also installed the Brahmadeva Pillar in front of the statue in 1436. His successor, Abinava Pandya installed a carving of manastambha in front of the Neminatha
Basadis in Hiriyangadi in 1457 AD. An intricately carved 54-foot-high (16 m) pillar stands in front of the
Basadis. Abhinava Pandya's successor was Pandya VI, who is attributed to the construction of the Kere
Basadis in the middle of a lake called
Anekere in 1545 AD. Immadi Bhairava (Bhairava II), who ruled after him, constructed the
Chaturmukha Basadi on top of a small rocky hill in 1586 AD. This
Basadis has four identical entrances from the four directions leading to the Garbagriha and hence is popularly known as Chaturmukha or Four-Faced. It is also referred to as Tribhuvana Tilaka Jina Chaityalaya and Ratnaraya Dhama in some inscriptions. The
Chaturmukha Basadi is built in the form of a square hall with a lofty doorway and pillared porticos on each of its four sides along with a pillared verandah. The roof is flat and is made of massive granite slabs. It has life size statues of three Jain Theerthankaras on each side and small images of 24
Tirthankara. In all, there are 108 pillars inside and outside the temple. There are 18
Basadis of antiquity, including Mahaveera
Basadi, Chandranathaswamy
Basadi, Adinathaswamy
Basadi, Ananthanatha
Basadi, Guru
Basadi, and Padmavati
Basadi. However, the rulers of Karkala were tolerant towards other religions, with temples of other religions being constructed, including the temples of Anantashayana and Venkataramana, Mahamaya Mukhyaprana, and Sri Aadi-Shakthi Veerabhadra Swamy. After the rule of the Pandyas, the region was annexed by
Tippu Sultan, and thereafter passed on to British rule. The St Lawrence Church was built in 1845 in a village called Nitte (Attur hamlet) where people of all religions congregate every year in January for the feast of St Lawrence. ==Landmarks==