Jain Journal 1969 10

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 49

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JAIN JOURNAL
foot-print worshippers." Practically the worship of foot-prints is so closely connected with Jainism that no other religion can claim the origin of it. There are a number of references to foot-print worship in ancient Tamil literary works. In Tamilnad the foot-prints of Gundagundacarya who has been claimed as the author of Tirukkural are revered in Ponnur hills and of Vamana Muni in Jina Kanci. In Sravanabelgola the foot-prints of Bhadrabahu and of Candragupta Maurya have been inscribed and they are held in high esteem by the pilgrims.
Monuments found in these parts testify to the prevalence of Jainism in the olden days. There is epigraphic evidence to show that there were flourishing Jaina settlements in Kottar, Kurandi, Tiruchchranathumalai and Tirunandikkarai which are all in the present district of Kanyakumari. From the Jaina vestiges and inscriptions found in Samanarmalai, Kalugumalai and Tiruchcharanathumalai in the districts of Madurai, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari respectively, we learn that a large number of Jaina monks who were there hailed from the above four places in Kanyakumari district. The erudite scholars and their disciples from these centres of learning left votive images cut on the rocks in different centres of Jaina culture. The scholars named Putbananda Adigal, Uttanandi Adigal, Vimalacandrar and Pathamoolathan Arangan Maran have prefixed the word Tirukottar to their names. (South Indian Inscriptions, Volume V Nos. 313-390; Travancore Archaeological Series, Volume II Pages 125-126; Samanarmalai Inscriptions edited by Mr. Venkayya and Dr. Sewell's list of Antiquities.)
Tirukottar
Kottar, now a part of Nagercoil Municipality in Kanyakumari district, was a commercial centre of fame in days of yore. Ptolemy's Geography and Pliny's Travels clearly indicate that it was one of the most important cities at the beginning of the Christian era. The ancient city took its name Nagercoil from the five-headed serpent shrine of Nagaraja which is situated in the heart of the present town.
The serpent shrine of Nagercoil, which is considered to be a Hindu temple was originally a Jaina one. Evidence of Jaina origin of the temple is seen in the inscriptions and sculptural images found in it. From the hymn of Tirugnanasambandar, one of the four Samayacaryas of the Saiva philosophy, who flourished in the 7th century A.D., it can be surmised that Jainism was a prominent religion in Kottar and the surounding area during his days. He has described the naked Jaina monks roaming in the streets of Kottar.