Jaina Corpus of Koppala Inscriptions X rayed

Author(s): Nagarajaiah Hampa
Publisher: Ankita Pustak

Page 30

Koppaļa through ages/11
Koppa!a. A firece battle between Ahavamalla Trailokyamalla Someśvara I (1042-68) and Rajendra, with his elder brother as the first leader of the Coļa army, was fought at Koppaļa (Tamil. Koppam) in the year C.E. 1053-54. Though the war was initially favourable to the Cālukyas, in the final analysis it turned out to be fatal to them and the Coļas carne out victorious [S11.111. 55; S11.VII.827; El.XII.pp.296 ff; Sastry, K.A.N.: A History of South India: 1958:178]. But, J.F. Fleet and S.H. Ritti are of the opinion that Kuppam is the modern Khidreśvara near Kolhāpur.
ĀDI MAHĀ TĪRTHA KȘETRA
Though Koppaļa has given shelter to all religions, it has been more generous to Jainism ab initio. Lithic records of proper Koppala and of some other places, and literary works, have in one voice eulogised Koppala as a nerve seat of Nirgrantha faith, for several centuries. A bird's eye view is sufficient to establish the fact, that the path traversed by anenkāntamata at Koppaļa, is scintillating and glitters throughout, upto to the end of sixteenth cent., after which Koppala friary passed into political limbo. Jains virtually lost the grip, and the hillocks ceased to be the hub of Nirgrantha faith. In time scale, the creative phase of Jaina church begins in about seventh cent. and ends in 16th cent., when it reached a stage of stagnation and breakdown.
Hullarāja, the Hoysa!a treasurer, general and a minister visited the Mahā-tirtha, the greatest pilgrimage centre, made ideal and permanent arrangement for feeding the twenty four congregation of the Jaina monks, and thus earned greater merits for himself. [EC. 11(R) SB. 476 (345). A.D. 1159, p. 289. lines: 4345]. Of the four crore assemblage of the summit of the mountain, Kopaņa-tirtha had earned the distinction of being the excellent, where the friar Vaçdācārya bratipati was far superior to the monk Nemideva in penance (EC. VII-I (BLR) Sh. 64. 1112].
Pious and philonthropic laity were always on their toes to cause the acts of religious merit at Kopaņa. Ēciraja dandanāyaka built a number of Jain temples at Kopaņa, an Adi-Tirtha, the original and an old, holy seat of Jains (EC. 11(R) SB. 532 (384) C. 12th cent. A.D. Jinanāthapura. p. 328, lines: 27-29]. For Eciraja and also for Gangaraja mahādandanāyaka, of surpassing excel