Jain Journal 1994 04

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

Page 13

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JAIN JOURNAL
to this temple had been transferred to Chittämür and Elangaļu respectively when the temple got dilapidated.16 However, its destruction at the hands of the Hindu remains uncorroborated.
Epigraphical Evidence :
Some of the epigraphical records of the Hindus also echo indirectly the enimical attitude of the Saivaites towards the Jains. For instance, those who misappropriate the endowments made to the Tiruvaņņāmalai Śiva temple are cursed to be the bearers of the kamandala (kundika) of the Jaina monks.17 Similarly, those who defy the agreement made in favour of the Siva temple at Masavapalayam would incur the sin of killing seven or eight Jains even in their next birth.18 These imprecations, condemning people as bearers of Kundikas and incurring the sin of killing Jaipa adherents, obviously bear testimony to the hatred of Saivaites towards Jains. A solitary example of landboundary dispute between Saivaites and Jains, and its amical solution is hinted at in an epigraph from Tiruvatigai.19 But its details cannot be ascertained as the record is very much mutilated.
CONVERTED JAINA TEMPLES Religious conflicts and sectarian rancour in course of time led to conversion of Jaina edifices into Hindu ones. Corroborative archaeological evidence in the form of epigraphs, sculptures and architectural vestiges for such a transformation have been reported from places like Malayaţikkusuchchi, Chitaral, Nárttāmalai, Kalugumalai and Nagercoil.
a) Malaiyadikkuschchi rock-cut temple :
An early Pāņdya rock-cut temple of the time of Sēndanmasan (645-695 A.D) exists at Malaiyadikkusuchchi in Tirunelveli district. Originally, it was excavated for the Jaina faith, but later metamorphozised into a Savia shrine. The pillars and pilasters have circular medallions with human, animal and bird motifs in the centre. The human depiction are apparently Jaipa figures. Moreover, there are traces of other sculptures representing Jaina deities, wholly or partially erased at the time of its conversion. One of them represents possibly Brahma Yaksha or Kubera Yaksha shown riding on an elephant.20
16 A. Ekambaranathan, History of Chittämūr, p. 42, Mukkudai, January 1975. 17 Annual Report on Epigraphy (ARE), 559 | 1902 18 South Indian Temple Inscriptions, Vol. I, No. 322 19 ARE 416 / 1921 20 K. V. Soundararajan, Glimpses of Indian culture, p. 95