Dharmasthala Manjunatha Temple

Dharmasthala is India's most striking example of syncretic temple administration: a Shiva shrine hereditarily managed for over eight generations by the Heggade family, who are Jain by faith, alongside co-existing Vaishnava and Jain shrines within the same complex, embodying a working model of interfaith harmony rare in institutional Hindu religion. A 39-foot monolithic statue of the Jain figure Bahubali, consecrated in 1973, stands on a hillock overlooking the temple town, itself a significant pilgrimage draw independent of the main shrine. The temple's free communal kitchen feeds all visitors regardless of faith or background, a practice central to its identity as a centre of dharma (righteous duty) rather than sectarian worship alone.