Jain Journal 1997 07

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

Page 28

KUMARI : KARNATAKA-TAMIL NADU JAJNA RELATIONS
23 The above details, more or less, corroborate to the Tamil tradition. The following is an abridged account of the elaborate details available in the Tamil Nadu about Akalanka :
A Buddhist colony called Alividaitangi situated between Kāñcipuram and North Arcot of Tamil Nadu was presided over by reputed monks. Once, two of the students Akalanka and Niskalanka quarrelled with their teachers and left the monastry. Akalanka went to Sravanabelgola, studied Jaina Agama and became a devout monk and thereafter he returned to the South and defeated the Buddhist in a polemical discussion at the Court of King Himasitala. Akalanka became the pontiff of the Jaina Math at Kancipuram.74
Legend also connects the great ācārya Akalanka with the Kuntalanātha basadi at Karantai situated about 15 Kilometers SouthWest of Kancipuram. This basadi also contains a miniature sculpture of a monk which is believed to be that of Akalanka ācārya. Apart from this, on the wall of the prakara near yaksi shrine an image of a monk has been carved along with pinche i e, a bunch of peacock feathers, book-stand, kamandala and paduke on the sides. This image is believed to be that of Akalankadeva.75
In an inscription of SravanaBelgola dated 1129 A.D. Akalankäcärya is glorified for his abilities-peerless poet, a pre-eminent disputant orator and an expert research scholar in various branches of knowledge. Akalankadeva was chiefly associated with Kanakagiri Kshetra a stronghold of Jainism near Mysore during the ancient period. The tradition also relates that the pontiffs of Kanakagiri Jaina Matha bore the religious title Akalankadeva. However, not much information is forthcoming regarding the functioning of this Jaina Matha which during the later years appears to have became subordinate to the Sravanabelgola Sri Matha. Akalankadeva is believed to have lived in the 8th century A.D.
Helācārya
In the Jaina religious history of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, Helācārya appears to be very prominent. P.D. Desai places him between 8th and 9th centuries. Having belonged to Dravida Gana, he appears to have centralised his activities around Hemagrāma, the present Ponnur in the North Arcot region of Tamil Nadu.76
The Jvalini Kalpa composed by Indranandi the fisth Jaina ascetic who succeeded Helācārya, says that Helācārya of the famous Dravida Samgha first started Jvalini Worship on the Summit of the Nilgiri hills