Jain Journal 1984 01

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

Page 47

A Note on the Antiquity of the Adinatha
Temple at Pulal
A. EKAMBARANATHAN
Pulal, a hamlet situated 9 miles north-west of Madras was a centre of Jainism and a temple was dedicated to Adinatha or Rsabhadeva, the first Tirthankara. The temple is completely renovated in recent times by the north-Indian Jaina pontiffs and hence the date of its origin cannot be easily ascertained from the present structure.
V. G. Nayar in his booklet on the Pulal temple, states that the antiquity of the temple can be traced back to the 1st century B.C., and he is also of the opinion that Tiruvalluvar, the author of Tirukkural offered worship to the presiding deity Adinatha. It is not clear on what grounds V. G. Nayar has dated the temple to the 1st century B.C., and associates Tiruvalluvar with the basti at Pulal. There is no epigraphic or other tangible evidence to show that the temple at Pulal was built during the 1st century of the pre-Christian era.
The Mackenzie Manuscripts, Vol III, edited by Dr. T. V. Mahalingam, (Manuscript No. 13, section 7, p. 96) makes mention of the Jaina temple at Pulal and associates it with the Kurumbars (a tribe). It is stated that "the Kurumbars of the Karnataka country spread over the Dravida country upto Tondaimandalam and set up their rule under the chieftainship of Kamanda, Kurumbaprabhu, Dravida-desatipati, Pulal-raja. They divided their country into twentyfour parts, built a fort in each and made Pulal their capital... Having been converted to Jainism by a monk, they built many Jaina bastis of which one bearing the name of the monk existed at Pulal, and the relics of others at Vikkinam Kalani and other places... They were anihilated by Adondaicola of Tanjore and Vellala people established in the country.”
Section 2 of the same edition (p. 91) of the manuscript adds further information to our knowledge that Adondaichakravarti who extirpated the Kurumbars, was an illlegal son of Kulottunga Cola. If the above said informations are reliable, we may have to place the
s in the 11th century A.D. (i.e. contemporary to Kulottunga.) Taking this into consideration, the same period may also be assigned to the Jaina temple at Pulal, built by the Kurumbars. (The historicity of the Mackenzie collection is subject to severe criticisms.)