Jain Journal 2001 01

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

Page 45

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JAIN JOURNAL : Vol-XXXV, No. 3 January 2001
NEWS ON JAINISM AROUND THE WORLD
Need to protect Jain rock-cut beds
The 17 rock-cut beds of Jain ascetics atop the 300-foot-tall hillock at Sittannavasal, 20 km frorn Pudukottai, dating back to 2nd century B.C. are badly in need of protection from indiscriminate blasting of rocks from the quarries at the foot of the hills.
Pudukottai region had been an important centre for Jain ascetics from the early days. Quite a few megalithic burial sites are strewn all around the hill, indicating that Sittannavasal was an important human settlement in those distant days. Sittannavasal, Vellanur, Thenimalai, Ammachatram, Kudumiyanmalai, Chettipatti etc. were centres where the Jain ascetics had chosen to lead their secluded life. With the ascendance of the Pandya kings in Madurai in the 7th century, and the active support given to Hindu savants by the kings, many Jain monks withdrew to nearby Pudukottai district.
The Jain rock-cut beds of Sittannavasal are not only the oldest, but also artistically and historically most significant. Most of the beds are having a raised portion akin to the pillow, and some of them are very broad. Near the pillow portion of one of the beds, there is a Tamil Brahmi inscription which reads that the bed was constructed as an offering to the Jain monk, by a devotee, Ilayar Enbaan of Sithuposil, the old name of Sittannavasal. There are similar inscriptions mentioning the names of the Jain monks to whom the beds were made as an offering
The entire Jain rock beds could be reached by climbing the steep rocky clope and after crossing the seven steps and hence the Sittannavasal rock-beds are called 'Ezhadipattam".
According to Mr. P. Rajendran, Conservation Officer of the Archaeological Survey of India, the cavern measuring about 50 metres long and five metres wide, which sports the magnificent rock-cut beds, is exposed to the continuous high pressure gusts of wind created by the blasting of rocks in the quarries--one situated just at the foot of the hill and a series of quarries at Kazhugumalai village, located less than three metres away. Already minor cracks had developed on the roof of the cavern due to the high pressure gusts of winds, and it is