Humcha / Hombuja is a small village near Ripponpet, Hosanagara taluk in Shimoga district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Humbaja Atishaya Jain Teerth Kshetra is famous for being home to an ancient temple of Goddess Padmavati, and to the Humbaj Matha (seminary/monastery), an important institution of the Jain community. This temple is considered to be very holy and is known for its cultural and historical heritage. Other notable highlights of the place are a lake that reputedly never dries up and a tree that likewise always remains green. Jain devotees of this holy place are everywhere throughout India and also in foreign countries. Thousands of devotees come to the Hombaja every year for fulfillment of their desires. History Humcha is an important Jain pilgrim centre from the period of 8th - 16th century. Santara rulers made it their capital. Santara dynasty The History of this region is also associated with Santara or Bhairarasa dynasty. Santara or Bhairarasa is the name of a medieval ruling dynasty of Karnataka, India. Jinadatta Raya, a Jain prince from Mathura in Northern India was the supposed founder of the dynasty. He is said to have migrated to the town of Humcha with an idol of the Jain deity Padmavati, laying the foundation of the kingdom in Humcha. The area covered by their kingdom included territories in the Malenadu region as well as the coastal districts of Karnataka. The dynasty founded by Jinadatta appears to have split into two branches by the 12 century C.E. One branch being stationed in Hosagunda of Shimoga district and Kalasa in the Western ghats, chikkamagalur district. Gradually these branches (or only the Kalasa branch) shifted their capitals to Keravashe (14 km north-east of Karkala) and Karkala both in the old South Canara district. Hence the territory they ruled was also known as the Kalasa-Karkala kingdom. Edgar Thurston mentions that the Bhairarasas or Santaras were among the powerful Bunt chiefs who seem to have exercised control over a greater part of the Tuluva country before the rise of the Vijayanagara Empire. The Santaras were Jains and had matrimonial relations with the Saivite Alupa royal family of the canara region. The Santaras built a number of Jain monuments and were responsible for the spread of Jainism in the Tulu Nadu and Malenadu region of Karnataka. During this period the Santara ruler Veera Pandya Bhairarasa erected the monolith of Bahubali in Karkala.