Jinamanjari 1998 04 No 17

SR No.: 524017
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jinamanjari
Publisher: Canada Bramhi Jain Society Publication
Publication Year: 1998
Total Pages: 96
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, Canada_Jinamanjari, & Canada
File Size: 6 MB

Page 17

Jinamanjari, volume 17, No. 1, April 1998
JAINA CAVES OF MADURAI Dr. A. Ekambaranathan, University of Madras, India
The habitats where the Jain monks sought a place of solitude to perform their rigorous religious austerities in the isolated mountain caverns of Tamilnadu are locally known as Sramana pallis. Such paliis associated with epigraphic records are located predominantly in the promontories of many districts in the state, and Madurai district is considered as one of the earliest extant Jain religious monuments in the south-east region of India. Paleographically, the pallis “indicate that the majority of the chronicles, which primarily contain the names of the resident monks and the Jaina laity who helped establish the 'holy residence' were composed during a period spanning the Second century B.C.E to the Fourth C.E.
The occurrence of Sramana pallis in Madurai district, which situated at about 180 km southwest of Madras city, has one of the largest concentrations of the hill caverns. Geographically, Madurai city is nestled in a ring of hilly ranges. The river Vaigi with its source in northwestern hills flows through the city, passes through the eastern border of Ramanathapuram district and enters the sea near the gulf of Mannar.' Detailed description and location of the caves are:
ARITTAPATTI is a hill-village in Madurai taluk and at about 0.8 mile northwest, there is a hillock called Kalinjamalai. On its eastern face, we find a cavern with a drip-ledge cut into the outer face of the rock. On the brow of it is a Brāmhi inscription dated between Second and First B.C.E. It states that the cave was donated by Chalivan Attananyiliyan of Nelveli, which has been identified with Tirunelveli, a small town situated on the northern bank of Tamraparani river.
Arittapatti continued to be a flourishing Jaina center until the Ninth C.E. This is confirmed by the rock-carved seated Tīrthankara, canopied by a triple umbrella over his head, an icon commissioned by
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