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JAINISM IN INDIA
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Dharasiva caves-These caves are situated in a ravine Dharasiva, also known as Osmanabad. Of the total number of caves which are seven, four have been indentified as Jaina. Judging from their structural features and similarity with the Buddhist caves elsewhere, the Dharasiva caves have been approximately assigned to the middle of the 7th century A.D.
Satabahana traditions-Jainism appears to have wielded considerable influence over the rulers and the territory of the Satavahana dynasty during the early days of its carrier in South India. Pritisthanapura or modern Paithan, the celebrated centre of the Satavahana power, was a stronghold of Jainism. Some kings of the Satavahana house seem to have believed in the teachings of Lord Jina and contributed to the propagation of the faith by their patronage and support. These facts are gleaned from a number of traditions and legends incorporated in their literary compositions by Jaina writers of later age. The first Satavahana king who is sometimes styled as Hala of literary fame but who might be Simuka, the founder of the dynasty, became a convert to the Jaina faith and built many Jaina temples in the capital city of Pratisthanapura according to the Jaina account. The fiftytwo stalwart warriors who were in the court of this king also built Jaina temples in the city after their respective names. We may also gather from the story of Kalakacarya who shifted the day of the observance of the Paryüṣaṇa festival at the instance of a Satavahana king that Jainism had taken firm root in the Satavahana capital and that it was honoured alike both by the members of the royal household and the common people.
Terdal Terdal in the Sangli area had developed as a renowned centre of the Jaina religion in the 11-12th centuries as a result of the patronage it received from the rulers of the Ratta house on the one side and the devotion bestowed by the members of the wealthy mercantile community on the other. This town with the adjoining tract was under the administration of the chief Mandalika Gonka who was an ardent follower of the Jaina faith. The implicit faith of Gonka in the Jaina religion is illustrated by an anecdote narrated in the inscription in the Jaina temple at Terdal which reveals that he was cured of snake-bite by pronouncing the names of the Five Saints.
At Teridala, which was the old name of Terdal, Gonka constructed a Jaina temple dedicated to Neminatha and made suitable endowment of land for the maintenance of its establishment and for the feeding of Jaina monks. The grant was made in the year corresponding to A.D. 1123-24 under the auspices of the Ratta chief Kartavirya II, and the
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