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JAINA MANUSCRIPTS 155
Viravira who was instrumental in building the temple at the instance of a Jaina teacher. (ARE: 58/1900; S.I.I., Vol VII,no.62).
MYLAPORE LEGEND
That Mylapore in the heart of Chennai city was once a seat of Jaina religion is evidenced by a manuscript (Ms. 12, Sec.2). Padmanathapuram or Vamanathapuram as it was then known, Mylapore has an interesting legend. It is said that a Jaina ascetic once predicted that the city was going to be engulfed by the sea within three days and hence a new city known as Mayilamanagar was built with five Jaina. temples. It was the irony of fate that the second city was also engulfed by the sea and so the people had to shift still further interior. The original Neminatha icon of the temple at Mayilamanagar has since been established in the Parsvanatha temple at Chittamur (Ms 12 Sec 2). During the period of the Cholas, Mylapore became a Saivite centre. However, the Jaina temple existed until the 15th and 16th centuries in Mylapore. The Mayilaman of the local tradition, in all probability, is a legendary figure not to be noticed in any dynastic history of Tamilnadu. The legend is very much relevant to the sea erosion of the place.
TIRUPPARUTIKUNRAM
Tirupparutikunram, a prominent Jaina centre, which figures in one of the Mackenzie manuscripts (Ms 22 Sec 3) is today represented by Jinakanchi near Kanchipuram on the right bank of the Vegavati river. Infact, this centre had a regular colony of the Jainas from very early times. It was one of the four Vidyasthanas of the Digambaras. The two temples of this centre dedicated to Vardhamana and
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