Dharmasthala Manjunatha Swamy is not a Jain God.

1. Who is Manjunatha Swamy?

- The main deity in Dharmasthala temple is Lord Manjunatha, a form of Shiva from the Hindu Shaiva tradition. - So the mool deity of that temple is Hindu (Shiva), not a Jain Tirthankar.

1. What is the Jain connection then?

- The Heggade family, who are the hereditary administrators (Dharmadhikari) of Dharmasthala, are Jains. - In Dharmasthala there are also: - A Jain Basadi (temple) for Bhagwan Chandraprabhu (or Chandranath) Tirthankar. - A big Bahubali (Gomateshwar) idol on the nearby hill. - Because of this, Dharmasthala is an important place for both Hindus and Jains, but the main Manjunatha Swamy temple itself is Hindu.

1. What do Jains worship?

- In Jain Dharma, we worship: - Arihant Bhagwan (Tirthankars like Mahavir Swami) - Siddha Bhagwan - Acharya, Upadhyay, and Sadhus (Panch Parmesthi) - We do not consider Shiva, Vishnu, etc. as Jain Gods. They are respected as dev or powerful beings, but not as Tirthankars or Panch Parmesthi.

So, Dharmasthala Manjunatha Swamy is a Hindu deity (Shiva), and Dharmasthala town has strong Jain presence and administration, but he is not a Jain God.