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JAIN JOURNAL
In these days, when Hindu pilgrims visit Sabarimalai they recite devotional hymns paying homage to Ayyappan throughout their journey. Among these hymns, they recite repeatedly palli kettum ketteettu which means they are carrying a package or bundle containing pūjā materials to worship at the Pallis, shrines or stūpas. These words are classical Tamil. Palli meant exclusively Jain temple and not Bauddha Viharas or Hindu temples. We do not find the word Palli in other scriptures except in those of the Jains. Palli is an Ardha-Magadhi Prakrit word, the language spoken by Mahavira and the Buddha while delivering their sermons before the common people of Magadha. It is the spoken dialect or language of the lower strata of society in the days of Mahavira. Jain monks of Magadha who came to Tamilnad and Kerala, may be in the 3rd century B.C. or much earlier, in the course of their discourses used the word Palli and gradually this word was adopted in Tamil language. The Roman traders who were in South India carried the word to Rome and Greece and it was incorporated in the Greek language. When the Christian churches were built in Rome in the 3rd century A.D. Palli became the name of the churches. There is no appropriate word in Greek to denote the church and hence the Roman fathers or missionaries called the churches as Pallis or houses of worship. Many other Tamil words which were used by Roman traders were also incorporated in Greek. To illustrate rice is called Arisi in Tamil, peacock is Mayil and ginger is Inchi. These Tamil words intermingled with the Greek language gradually transformed and adopted as Greek. Even today, these Tamil words are spoken and used by Romans, Greek and many other European nations. In later centuries Palli spread to Arabia and adopted in Arabic to denote mosques. Churches and mosques in Tamilnad, Kerala and many other parts of India are called Pallis even today. The word is a legacy from Magadha inherited by Rome, Greece and many other European countries besides Arabia and India. Further, primary schools run by Jain ascetics in Tamilnad and Kerala are called Pallikootams even today. Jain monks were pioneers in the field of education both in Tamilnad and Kerala. The Jain temples and dwellings of monks attached to the temples were also called Pallis. Many villages in Palghat district, my birth place, are called even today with a prefix of Palli. These villages are Elappalli, Nalleppalli, Polpalli Kallepalli, etc. A village in Travancore is called Karunagappalli ; Madanappalli and Yischinappalli are in Tamilnad. These facts go to prove that all these villages were residential areas of Jain monks and places of Jain worship several centuries ago. In the North and South Arcot districts of Tamilnad, there are many Jain temples and villages called Pallis. The hill temple Yirukoyilur is known as Pallichandal. This temple has become extinct but its relics remain even today. The temple at Karur is called Pazaanagapalli.
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