Jaina Monuments of Andhra

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

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Jaina Temples
certain Mallisetti, son of Sangayana Bemmisetti and Melavve, a lay disciple of Balendu-Maladhari, donated Tammadahalli village and 200 areca trees as his principal share to Prasanna-Parsvadeva basadi of Tailangere which was known as Brahma-Jinalaya. It also informs that a certain Chellapille was the priest of this Jaina basadi who is said to have been a Jain-brahman. In the end, we are told that the produce of the gifted garden was to be used for the construction of stone basadi, from its bottom to the pinnacle, comprising Mahamandapa, Bhadra, Lakshmi mandapa, enclosure (parisutra), festoons (vandanamala), Manastambha, Sampurna vahana and Makara-torana., This record is indeed unique for, it is the only Jain record that sheds flood of light on the architectural and decorative aspects of a Jaina-basadi. According to Soundara Rajan,24 these temple forms basically belonged to the southern vimana order, for, such terms are to be found only in it.
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The Brahma-Jinalaya of the above record, quite likely, is identifiable with the present dilapidated and deserted Jaina-basadi (Fig-22). The temple consists of garbhagriha, antarala and mukhamandapa. Though the whole structure is ruined, the sanctum of the temple is intact (Fig 22A). The whole structure is enclosed by a compound wall. A corridor on all sides was also constructed. Innumerable tomb-stones which lie scattered, also indicate that Amarapuram was a sacred Jain-tirtha during the 13th century A.D. (Fig. 22B)
Ratnagiri, in the Rolla mandal of Anantapur district, enjoys strategic importance, for, the whole village is situated in the midst of the fort. The Nollamba-Pallavas and Nidigallu Cholas were responsible for encouraging Jainism in this area. The village lies very close to Karnataka-border. In Karnataka, we find several extant Jain-mathas attached to the basadis; whereas in Andhra, we find a lone Jain-matha attached to Santinatha-basadi at Ratnagiri.
The temple of Ratnagiri is a big and beautifully constructed Jainbasadi. It is provided with three entrances in the front, instead of the usual one. The main temple consists of garbhagriha, antarala, rectangular pillared mandapa and also ardha-mukhamandapa (fig23). The Principal deity of the temple is Santinatha, depicted beautifully,