Jain Journal 1985 07

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

Page 21

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JAIN JOURNAL
temple had been destroyed before the 13th century A.D. during the horrible days of Saiva persecutions of the Jainas. Even if the Jaina temple was in existence before the 13th century A.D. it would not have received any pallichandam lands from Hindu kings because of the deeprooted animosity that prevailed between the Saivaites and the Jainas of Tamilnadu at that time.
Now let me further examine the historicity of the Kurumba invasion of Polal. There is no reference about them in the history written by Prof. S. A. Sharma entitled Jainism and Karnataka Culture, I doubt whether any other epigraphist and historian, like Fleet, Rice, Saletore including Dr. Iyengar, the doyen among South Indian historians especially about the Colas have referred to the Kurumbas and their invasion of Polal. The Polal episode is a false story created by some interested persons to tarnish the might and glory of Rajaraja Cola the Great and his son Rajendra Vikrama Cola with a view to secure monetary gain and other help from the good old Col. Mackenzie, who collected the Manuscripts from various persons some of whom were crooks and duped the Colonel who was a high ranking British Officer in Madras. It is not necessary to advance any more evidences to prove that the Mackenzie Manuscripts' information about the Kurumba invasion of Polal and the construction of the Adinath temple by them is entirely false. I can also safely assert that there is no tradition or legend current in Polal about the Jaina basati built after the name of the ascetic who converted the Kurumbas to Jainism in accord with the Mackenzie Manuscripts information mentioned by Sri Ekambaranathan and hence it is also a fabricated story.
In South Kerala, there is a place called Kurumba or Kurumbanadu. This locality might have been inhabited by the Kurumbas in the old days. The Kurumbas were a wild hill tribe who tended sheep giving wool for making warm blankets and other garments. Those wild and backward people belonged to the scheduled caste and tribes of South India. They were a criminal tribe noted for illegal activities. The Kurumbas trekked from one land to another with their flock of sheeps guarded by dogs. The territory traversed were Tamilnadu, Kerala and Andhra. They spoke Canarese with a mingling of Tamil words. They could be seen with their sheep and dogs even today.
There is a book called The History of Kongunadu and Jainism written by Kovai Kizhar and published in 1959. I read this book to find out whether it contained any reference to the Kurumbas. But I found none in this publication. The Mackenzie Manuscripts have stated that the