________________
120
tant ones. Gangaraja the famous general received from Visnuvardhana, the village Parma which the former granted to a Jinalaya built by his wife and mother. Then he gave away some lands in Govindavadi to Gommatesvara. From these references it becomes clear that Visnuvardhana was also a patron of Jainism.
Narashimha I was though a Vaisnavite, showed great respect for Jainism. He visited Sravanbelgole in 1156 and made grants to Jinalaya built by his minister Hulla. Hulla was a great patron of Jainism and built Chaturvimsatibasadi at Sravanabelagola. He is said to have restored several Jaina temples at Bankaura, Koppala, etc. Ballala II and his ministers also made many grants to Jaina Temples. At the instances of Ballala II, Nagara Jinalaya was built at Dorasamundra, dedicated to abhinava Santinatha deva. It is highly interesting to note that Chandra Mouly, the brahmin Minister of Ballala had a wife Aciyakka who was a devout Jaina. She was responsible for the Akkana basadi at Sravanabelgola. Ballala gave the village Bammanayanahalli for this basadi. She obtained another village as a grant for the worship of Gommata from Ballala. Nagadeva, another minister of Ballala built a Nagara Jinalaya Sravanabelgola.
Patronage to Jainism continued in the days of Narasimhas and Ramanatha. Narashimha made a grant to Vijaya Parsva in 1254. He also made some additional grants on his upanayana. King Somesvara also have made some grants. Thus the various Hoysala Kings not only built many Jaina Temple but have a large number of grants to them.
is also said to have built his capital Chandragutha, presumably after this said. We have no evidence to show that the successors of Dridhaprahara were the followers of Jainism. On the other hand, some of them were Saivites. But Sevunadeva III was a devout Daina, his Anjaneri inscription of 1142 A.D., opens with a typical Jaina formula: obeisance to panca Parmestis, the Arhats the Siddhas, the Acharyas, the Upadhya- yas and the Sadhus. Sevunadeva made a large number of gifts to the temple of Chandraprabhasavamin. The other Sevuna Kings, though they belong to various other religious faiths, liberally made grants and donations to Jaina basadis, established many temple and had Jaina Rajagurus, Singhana made donations to a Jainalaya at Purikanagara, for the worship of Parsvanatha and another gift to the temple of Anantatirthankara. The king Krishna made a gift to a Jaina ascetic Sakalacandrafeva, a disciple of Kallachandra Bhattaraka. Ramachandra made a large number of gifts to Jainas. He granted a village, Huniseyahalli for a Jainalaya. His Sarvadhikari Mayideva constructed a Jaina basadi. Jainabhattaraka was his Rajaguru.
Many Sevuna feudatories and offic- ers were Jainas. Mahapradhanas Malla, Bacha and Payiseeti built a Jaina basadi at Annantatirtha at the instance of Kamalasenuauni. Munivalli in Bijapur and Kadakola in Dharwar were great jaina centres. Many people died of selfimmolation as prescribed by the Jaina texts. In 1246 A.D., Somayyya, a disciple of Bhattarak adeva died from Samadhi. The death of another by Samugasana is mentioned by a record. Women also died of Jaina self-immola- tion. Besides Madavve, wife of Siriyama Gauda; and Bakkacigaudi, Jainism was practiced by many in their times.
taka after the 12th century. With the establishment of Vijayanagara kingdom, Jainism had a great setback.
Vijayanagara king Harihara II, though a Saiva, patronized Jainism. His minister Baica was a Jain. The king built caitya for Kuntu Jina at Vijayanagara. He also gave grants to Gommatesvara. Bhimadevi, the wife of king Devaraya, was a Jain, and she got the image of Santinatha made at Sravanabelagola for her Jain guru, Panditacarya.
During this period, there were a lot of activities with patronage to Jainism in southern coastal Karnataka - places like Varanga, Karkala, Moodabidire, Barakuru etc. The Alupa and other Chiefs ruling in the area not only built many monuments but also gave a large number of grants to them.
Encouragement and patronage to Jainism in coastal Karnataka - comprising of south and north Canara districts - were given by Jaina ruling dynasties like the Bangas of Bangawadi, Cautas of Moodabidire, Ajilar of Venur. Mulki Samantas, Barirarasa of Karkala, Solwas of Sangitapura, Tolhas of Sural. These dynasties have made a very valuable contribution to the cultural and social life of not only the Jains, but also of their non-Jaina subjects.
Jainism in Moodabidre Moodabidre is one of the most important centres of Jainism in Karnataka, and has its due place in the history of Jainism in South India. Ancient records refer to Moodabidire as Vamsapura, Pragvenupura, Moodabidri.
It is in Moodabidre that the great Jaina scripture - Dhavala: Dhavala, Jayadhavala and Mahadhavala have been found in one of the ciatyas, the Jaina lexicon, ancient Prakrit word given to the place of worship of the Jinas. These manuscripts have been preserved here from the 12th century onwards. These are the only copies extant, and they form the teachings of Mahavira compiled under Dvadasangas and committed to writing by Bhutabhali and Puspadanta,
The Sevunas
The tradition connects the Sevunas with Jainism. In the transition preserved in the Nasikakalpa, Dridhaprahara is said to have been born under the care of a Jaina Saint Candraprabhasvamin. He
Vijayanagara Period
Jainism began declining in Karna
"Let me assert my conviction that Jainism is an original system, quite distict and independent fromall others, and that therefore it is of great importance for the study of philosophical thought and religious life in ancient India."
-Dr. Hermann Jacobi, Germany 7TH BIENNIAL JAINA CONVENTION - JULY 1993
For Private & Personal Use Only
OF
Jain Education Intemational
www.jainelibrary.org
