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PREFACE
Jainism had a long but chequered history over a period of two thousand years in the southern part of the Peninsular India. There is no denying of the fact that it played a dominant role in the socio-cultural mileu of the Tamils and had left indelible marks on the thought and life of the people. The rich Jaina vestiges in the form of monuments, sculptures and inscriptions in Tamilnadu provide ample scope for scientific study which is yet to receive due attention from scholars. Of these antiquarian remains, the epigraphs engraved on caves, rocks, walls of temples and on pedestals of images, throw a flood of light on the socio-economic and religious life of the people.
Great hardship is encountered by those--be it a common reader or scholar engaged in reaearch-who seek access to the epigraphical materials published since 1885 by the Epigraphy Department of the Archaeological Survey of India, Department of Archaeology, Government of Tamilnadu, and other inscriptions reported by individuals in some research journals and magazines. Hence, the need for presenting them in a single volume was found to be a desideratum. Having this in view, proposals to bring out a Topographical list of Jaina Inscriptions in Tamilnadu were sent to the Research Foundation for Jainology, Madras-600 079, which in turn generously accepted the proposals and also agreed to undertake its publication
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