Megunda is a Village in Koppa Taluk of Chikkamagalur district.
Main Deity – About 3 feet high black coloured stone idol in paryankasana.
History – Based on inscriptional references available the history of this temple can be traced back to 15th century A.D., i.e. vijayanagr period.
Inscriptions at Megunda – There are 2 inscriptions found in the temple. Both of them corrsponds to 24th October 1498. These inscriptions gives details of land grants given to the shanthinath and Parshwanath Tirthankar idols at this temple for conducting Deepavali festival regularly.
Temple Structure – At the temple’s entracne is installed about 25 feet high Manastambha with a Chaturmukha Tirthankar idol. Along the manastambha’s base on all the 4 sides are engraved the idols “Kudure Brahma Yaksha”, i.e. Brahma Yaksha riding a horse. The temple is completely built of stone. Soon after entering the temple is seen a long passage about 15 feet in length after that is seen a wide hall/Navaranga with two pillars. The Navaranga has attractively made roof structure. Betweeen the Navaranga and the Garbagriha (sanctum sanctorum) is seen a small hall called Antarala. The door way leading to Antarala from Navaranga is made of stone and has 24 Tirthankar idols carved along its 3 sides along with Dwarapalakas. The Antarala has 4 pillars and a Gandhakuti (an arch-like rectangular formation around the door leading to the Garbagriha with cells all around. Small Jain idols will be placed in these cells). In the Gandhakuti are placed smal Jain idols. In the Antarala are also kept many other Tirthankar idols and idol of Goddess Padmavati Yakshi. The antarala leads to the Garbagriha. In the Garbagriha is installed about 3 feet high black coloured stone idol in paryankasana.
The temple temple is also called as Kogre Jain Basadi.
Panchami Kallu – About 3 Kms from the Shanthinath Basadi at Megunda is seen an elevated area with 4 different Pada/feet impressions of Jain Munis who attained samadhi by practicing sallekhana. This place is called as Panchami Kallu.
Location – Megunda is located at a distance of 23 kms from Horanadu, 35 kms from Koppa and 79 kms from Chikamagalur.