Jaina Monuments of Andhra

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

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Jaina Monuments of Andhra
Goddess, Parvati idol was installed inside the cave (fig-1). Adjacent to this is another cave called as Siva-cave. Inside this cave are a Sivalinga and few Nandi sculptures which have been kept there recently in order to make it appear as a Saiva-kshetra (fig-2). At present this centre is well-known as Narasimhaswami-hill.
About 8 kms. away from Amadalavalasa town in Srikakulam district lies the Sangamayya-hill, near the entrance of the village Kollivalasa. It is now being worshipped as a popular Saiva-kshetra, But during my recent exploration it was found that the Principal deity of the hill Sangmayya or Sangameswara does not belong to Saiva pantheon;(i.e. Siva). On the other hand it represents Lord Jina.? Further there are two more Jaina images found on the summit of the hill. In front of the mukhamandapa, is a Nandi image. Architecturally, the mukhamandapa and sculpturally, the Nandi image seem to belong to a very late period. Within few yards distance in the interior of the cave is a huge Tirthankara. Near the foot of the Tirthankara lies one Sivalinga (fig-4) which obviously is a later addition. From the above it appears that the cave-temple of Sangamayya-hill was originally a Jaina shrine which later on was occupied by the Saivites, who added Nandi and Siva linga to the original cave and thus made it a Hindu shrine.
The period between A.D. 624-1000 witnessed an active phase of building Jaina temples. It may be noticed that only after 12th century A.D., Jainism seems to have suffered decline in the Telugu land and in the adjoining Kannada area, consequent on the emergence of the Virasaiva cult. The notable adversaries of the Jains during this period were the Saivities, who enjoyed firm royal support in Andhra. The Vira-Saiva movement under the leadership of Basava in Karnataka gave impetus to the rise of similar Saivite movements in Andhra.3 ViraSaivism infused new zeal and fervour in the people and inspired them to renounce the old and gave impetus to new social order based on universal brotherhood'. This lofty ideal drew attention of the people and it gained popularity in no time. From the Tenali Kaifiyat, we learn of the destruction of large number of Jaina monuments by Trilochana-Pallava. It informs specifically that Trilochana-Pallava got