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for their highly tolerant attitude towards religions and were therefore patrons of Jainism too. Bukka I (1357-1377-8 AD), is spoken off for the Jaina-Vaishnava compact that he was able to effect during his reign. This by itself speaks for the patronage that Jainism received at the hands of the early kings of Vijayanagara Bhimadevi, the queen of Deva Raya I, is said to have been a disciple of a Jaina teacher Abhinava-Charukirti-Panditacharya and to have installed an image of Santnatha at Sravana Belgola
Irugappa, the general of Bukka II (13851406 AD is referred to in an inscription at Hampi as having built a temple for the 17th Tirthankara Kunthunatha in 1385 AD, and a Music-Hall in the Jaina temple at Jina-Kanchipuram in 1387-88 AD Inscriptions in the latter temple of the Vijayanagara King Krishnadeva Raya ( 1510-29 A D ) refer to the king's tolerant spirit and endowments to Jaina temples. Almost all the rulers down to Rama Raya made grants to Jaina temples and were tolerant enough.
Such has also been the attitude of the feudatory and minor rulers under the Vijayanagara kings and of the ruling house of Mysore towards Jainism, an attitude which luckily continued down to the present day. It is said that some of the minor powers like the rulers of Gersoppa and the Bhairavas of Karkal “professed the Jaina faith and left monuments of importance in the history of Jaina art”.
