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Jaina Rock-cut Caves in Western India mentions one Varirudra Pandita of the Kalamukha sect, who boasts of having defeated Buddhists and Digambara Jainas (Kolte 1987: 167-168). Chakradhara Swami used to stay in Jaina temples during his wanderings in spite of Brahmaņas' insistence against it (italics added) (Kolte 1952: 140). However, there is no evidence of persecution of Jainas as noticed in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. These references to Jainas and occurrence of Jina figures on the Brahmanical temples point at the fact that Jainisin must have been a significant force in the contemporary society.
Patronage
In the absence of adequate data it is very difficult to say anything definite about the patrons of the caves under study. There are only a limited number of inscriptions available, most of which are illigible. The inscriptions below the shrine icon in Cave I at Mohida and on the verandah pillar in Cave IV at Ankai-Tankai, though long, are difficult to read. There is a trace of an inscription below one of the Jina icons at Bhamer, but is almost illegible. Similarly, the inscription below one of the male devotees in J30 at Ellora can also not be read. There was an inscription on the verandah wall of the cave at Tringalwadi, but cannot be traced now. The inscription under the shrine icon in the same cave is weathered and only the date and name of the sangha can be read. The rest of the epigraphs are fragmentary that do not furnish much information. The inscription at Pale records that the cave, along with the cistern, was donated by one Indrakhita (Indrakshita). Nothing more is known about this patron. Similarly, the inscriptions below the icons in J13 and J15 at Ellora provide only the names of the patrons. The inscriptions below the icons in J25 at Ellora, probably record the names of important monks and nuns. The short inscriptions in Cave VI at Ankai record the names of the donors, while the inscription on a loose icon at Dharashiva appears to refer to devotee. The long inscription on Mangi peak mentions some of the kings of Rathod dynasty. But it is not clear whether they are referred to as donors or only as visitors. The only record, which provides some information, is the 13th century CE inscription on the colossal of Parśvanātha in J27 at Ellora. The patron of this icon, one Chakresvara, who was the son of Galugi-Svarna, came from Vardhanapura. As mentioned earlier, one of the loose icons found from the lower caves of Ellora, contains an inscription dated to 1247 CE and records the donation of the image by a native of Vardhanapura. It is quite possible that the donor of the large Parávanātha image and this particular icon is one and the same person as he himself claims, he "made many huge images of lordly Jinas and converted the Chāranādri into a holy tirtha, just as Bharata (made) Mount Kailasa". It is difficult to identify this
Vardhanapura'. One “Vardhamanapura' was a prominent Jaina centre during the gth to 10th centuries CE, where Jinasena I and Harisena composed literary texts. It has been identified with Wardhvan in Kathiawar (Altekar 1967: 6, 122). It is quite possible that our Vardhanapura is same as Vardhamanapura and if that is the case, it is very significant. The donation by a person from Kathiawar at Ellora indicates popularity of Ellora as a Jaina tirtha in the 13th century CE. It has been suggested that the Cave II at Dharashiva may have been excavated by the Silaharas when they were ruling at Tagara or Ter in the 7th century CE since they trace their descent from the Vidyadhara Jimutvahana, and some of the rulers assumed the birudas like Tribhuvana-Nila and Ahava-Nila, which
