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JAIN JOURNAL : Vol-XXXII, No. 1. July 1997
this record fails to disclose explicitly the exact relationship of the King with the Pallava queen mother, who is presumed to have belonged to the Royal family of the Western Gangas of Talakad.
Interesting evidence is available about the spontaneous liberality extended by the later Ganga ruler, Rachamalla-II (870-907 A.D.), to the Jaina centres in Tamil Nadu.12 Rachamalla-II, who had a great disposition towards religious activities, bore the title Dharma Mahārājādhiraja. He was a contemporary of Pallava King, Nandi Varman, of kañci. Vallimalai and Siyamangalam, the two important Jaina centres in the North Arcot district of Tamil Nadu received benesactions from Rachamalla-II. From one of the four Kannada inscriptions engraved on Vallimalai, the ancient name of which was Vijayadri, we learn that the Jaina temple (cave) there was established by Rachamalla-II. He is also known in the inscription as Ranavikrama. On the basis of Rachamalla's inscriptions, P. Venkatesan has even suggested that the Gangas held sway over the North Arcot region. 12 However, it is also likely that Rachamalla-II built a Jaina temple on Vijayādri; and such a presumption would be compatible with the antiquity and sanctity of this Jaina centre. 13
Siyamangalam, in the North Arcot district, was another important Jaina centre of antiquity, and it received the special attention of the Gangas of Talakad. Though we have not come across any explicit reference to the exact connection of the Ganga rulers to this centre, the reference to the King Ranchamalla-II, made in a record, 4 points to such an affiliation.
Keeping in view the sanctity of the natural Rocks over which the Jaina caves have been hewn out, Vajranandi Yogindar, belonging to the Dravida Samgha, built flights of steps. This is known from an inscription of 10th century A.D., engraved on a rock at the foot of the hill. 15
Whether Vajranandi Yogindar, mentioned in the record, was the same person as Vajranandi ācārya who founded the Dravida Samgha at Madurai in about 5th century A.D. is uncertain. Nevertheless, the former also belonged to the same line of ācāryas of Dravida Samgha. From the same record we also come to know that Vajranandi Yogindar was a lion among disputants and the Mandalācārya of Sri Arunkalanvaya, a popular branch of Dravida Samgha, the details of which will be discussed hereafter. However, this event may be taken as an illustration of the religious zeal of the ācāryas of Arunkalanvaya, who evidently must have helped to organise the Jaina community of the North Arcot region of Tamil Nadu, 16
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