Jainism and Karnataka Culture

Author(s): S R Sharma
Publisher: Karnataka Historical Research Society Dharwar

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founded by him, an abode of merit, and marked with the auspicious name of Kaṭakabharaṇa. The temple was superintended by Śrimandiradeva, disciple of Diväkara who belonged to the "pure and worthy Nandi-gachcha of the Yapaniya-Saṁgha.” The grant was the outcome of a request from Kaṭakarāja " for the cost of repairs of breaks and cracks, offerings, worship etc., and of an alms-house (sattra),.... with exemption from all taxes, with libations of water.119 Thus we see, that the Calukyas, of whatever branch or age, were consistently patrons of Jainism, the only exceptions being Taila II and his immediate successors, who acted under stress of political expediency rather than avowed religious bias.
HISTORICAL SURVEY
RASTRAKUTAS120 AND THE KALACURIS :
A PERIOD OF SHARP CONFLICTS
The Age of the Rāṣṭrakūtas (754-974 A. D.) was a period of great activity among the Jainas of the Deccan and the Kannada country. This was immediately followed by a Saiva reaction under Taila II and his immediate successors of the Calukya dynasty, noticed in the last chapter. From Someswara I, as we saw above, there was a revival in the patronage of Jainism by the Calukyas. Under Someswara IV, Cālukya power was temporarily brought to an end by the revolution created by Bijjala of the Kalacuri family. The last named was an enthusiastic supporter of the Jaina faith, but the power established by him did not last for more than two decades after his usurpation (1162-1183 A.D.). The fall of the Kalacuris was the final blow given to Jainism in the Deccan. The struggle had commenced much earlier and we get a lively picture of it in the
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119 lbid., p. 56 vv. 16-20 and L. 53.
120 The Raṣṭrākūṭas of Malkhed having been a Kannada dynasty has been established by Dr. Altekar in the Rāṣṭrakūṭas and Their Times, pp. 21-25.
121 Smith, Early History of India, p. 395.