Venur

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Venur or Venoor is a small village on he banks of the Gurupur river in the South Kanara of Karnataka, India. It was once the seat of Jainism and the capital.^[1]

It is on the Dharmasthala-Moodabidri-Karkala route on the costal religious circuit in the Karnataka State of India. Venur belongs to Belthangady taluq in Dakshina Kannada District of Karnataka. Venur's claim to fame is the monolith of Bhagawan Bahubali also known as Lord Gomateshwara. The single rock statue is 38 feet in height and was erected by the Jain ruler Timmanna Ajila in the year 1604. The statue is supposed to have been sculptured by Amarashilpi Jakanachari.

Venur is a small town in South Kanara District of Karnataka state situated on the bank of river Gurupur. Venur though a small town was once a great seat of Jainism. It was the capital of the Ajila Dynasty and one of the most prominent Kings of them Thimmanna Ajila built a colossus of Gommateshwara 35 feet high in 1604 A.D. He was a direct descendant of Chamundaraya, who built one at Shravanbelgola. Venur colossus is the shortest of all the three Gommateshwara’s within the radius of 250 km around it. It also stands in an enclosure, on the same pattern as that of Shravanbelgola. The Kings of Ajila Dynasty ruled here from 1154 A.D. to 1786 A.D.

The statue stands facing westward on a high platform on the banks of the river Phalguni. This statue of Bahubali is one of the four giant monoliths (of the same God) found in Karnataka (the others being at Shravanabelagola, Karkala and Dharmasthala). The last mahamastakabhisheka or the head anointing ceremony of the statue (typical of all the four Bahubali statues) was held in the year 2000. Venur also has a few other Jain Basadis and a Mahadeva temple.