Jaina Monuments of Andhra

Author(s): G Jawaharlal
Publisher: Sharada Publishing House Delhi

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Jaina Temples
renovations and repairs undergone in recent times. The next important and most impressive one amongst this class is the Adinatha temple in Kulpak in Nalgonda district.
Kollipaka, corresponding to modern Kulpak in Aleru Mandal of Nalgonda district, is a live Jain-kshetra in Andhra. The Jaina vestiges found in Kulpak inform us that it rose to prominence as a Jaina-Tirthakshetra since the time of the Rashtrakutas, as the Akunur grant11 records a gift to the basadi at Kollipak, while a certain Sankaraganda was ruling over Kollipaka-rajya (i.e., 9th century A.D.). During the period of the Chalukyas of Kalyana, it became a flourishing pilgrim centre for the Jains. According to the inscriptions the Parsvanatha temple and the temple of Ambika the sasanadevi of Neminatha, have been built by the Chalukyas of Kalyana.12 But no traces of them are found at present. The present Saiva mathas and the temples of Somesvara and Bhavannarayana were originally Jain shrines, for, there are some Jain sculptures carved on the pillars of the corridors and Mana-stambhas erected in front of them.
In Kulpak, about 20 inscriptions and Jaina sculptures have been found. The mutilated Jains sculptures attest to the dreadful acts of cruelty by Rajendra Chola and Rajadhiraja who are said to have burnt down Kollipaka to ashes in and after A.D. 1007.13 Though deluged by the wrath of the Cholas, it did not totally disappear, as the Kongali inscription dated A.D. 127611 refers specifically to the pious Jain pilgrims from Kollipaka. Again we hear about the flourishing stage of Jainism at Kollipaka during the 18th century through a Nagari epigraph dated A.D. 1711.15 The object of the record was to register the consecration of Manikyasvamin or Bhagavato Adisvara (i.e., Adinatha) and renovation of the temple and the construction of the prakara-wall around the temple, by Pandita Kesarakusala, with the help of the Nawab Mohmmad Yousf Khan, subedar of Bahadur Shah I, son of Badshah Aurangazeb. This epigraph not only throws flood of light on the flourishing state of Jainism of Kollipak but also on the religious harmony that prevailed during the time of Bahadur Shah I (i.e. 18th century A.D.). The present Adinatha temple at Kulpak is the same mentioned in the above Nagari