Jain Journal 2000 01

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

Page 45

HAMPANA : THE HOYSALAS AND JAINISM
157 of thought. Janna who flourished in the court of Ballāļa-II, was honoured as the 'kavicakravarti', 'poet emperor', which he richly deserves.
Keśirāja, chip of the old block, son of Mallikārjuna and cousin of Janna, wrote Sabdamaņi-darpana, a masterly treatise on grammar based on Nāgavarma's Śabdasmrti. Rajāditya is credited with a number of mathematical works and is the second Jaina writer to take up writing on that subject after Mahāvirācārya, a celebrity in the field. Jagaddala Sõmanātha chose to translate Kalyāna-kāraka, a famous work on medicine, in Sanskrit authored by Ugrādity, an ascetic-doctor. At Sravanabelagola and some other places Jaina scholars wrote literary charters and poetic epigraphs containing a fund of information on various aspects of political conditions. religious faiths and social life of the times.
Many monks and nuns of eminence flourished in the kingdom at various Jaina monasteries-Belgola, Mulgunda, Kanakagiri-Tīrtha, Hombuja, Lakkundi, Bankāpura, Aņņigere, Puligere, Koppaļa. Prabhācandra, Māghanandi, Mēghacandra, Nayakirti, Subhacandra, Srīpāla Traividyadēva and other renowned ācāryas adorned the period with their spiritual counsel. Because of their guidance many Jaina seats were recovered, and revived. Many new Jinālayas were commissioned in a number of centres and the old ones were renovated. Hovsala kings and their feudal tenants founded Jaina shrines and endowed them with generous grants. Akkana basadi and Savatigandhavārana-basadi at Beļagola, Jina Pārśva temple at Mattāvara, magnificent śāntināthabasadi at Haļēbiļu, Maiduvoļala-Tirtha on the hills at Mandalagiri near Tumkūr, Trikūta-Pāršva-Jinālaya at Yellādahalli and the temples at Tandaga, Heggere, Nittūru, Kardaļu and Tailangere deserve a special mention.
Conclusion
Jainism received immense impetus and thrived amidst revivalist movements. Despite their sectarian preferences, the Hoysaļa rulers, on the whole, adopted the deliberate policy of tolerance towards all religions. They favoured Jaina institutions, bestowed lavish grants and gifts on Jaina shrines. Perhaps it would be appropriate to consider that the period of Hoysaļas was the last stronghold of Jaina Church in Karantaka. Even though Jainism continued to be fairly influential during the Vijayanagara period also, it was no match to the extensive royal condescension that Jainism enjoyed under the monarchs from the Gangas to the Hoysaļas. The decline of Jaina faith was irreversible