Jaina Archaeological Heritage of Tamilnadu

Author(s): A Ekambarnathan
Publisher: Bharat Varshiya Digambar Jain Mahasabha

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JAINA ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE OF TAMILNADU
been built during the time of Rajasimha Pallava. (8th cent.) It has a shrine and a mandapa infront. The shrine was closed at a later period for reasons not known to us, but the first storey was converted into a shrine accommodating a stucco figure of Chandraprabha. Subsequent renovations and repair works have altered the original style of its architecture and now it appears like a modern structure. However, the rampant yalis at the cardinals of the shrine are reminiscent of the Rajasimha style of architecture. The temple received some benefactions during the reign of Rajendra chola I (1014-1044), but their details are not discernible as the inscriptions containing the informations are completely defaced.
Chittamur Temples
Chittamur, the headquarters of the Digambara sect in Tamilnadu, has two Jaina monuments known as Malainatha temple and Parsvanatha temple. Of the two, the former enshrines an oblong rock-cut panel containing bold relief sculptures of Gommatesvara, Parsvanatha, Adinatha, Mahavira and Ambika Yakshi. It came into existence during the reign of Aditya chola. At that time, it had a small shrine with a front mandapa, but later on, the temple was enlarged with additional mandapas and an enclosure wall. In the year 888 A.D. an endownment was made for lighting a perpetual lamp in this temple. Although the Malainatha temple has lost its original style of architecture consequent to extensive renovations in later times, the magnificient sculptural carvings inside the shrine bear testimony to its early Chola origin.
The Parsvanatha temple was built a little away from the Malainatha temple in the 12th century A.D.,
when Chittamur became an important centre of the