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JAINISM IN INDIA
same taluq was an important seat of the Jaina religion. Akkadevi, a princess of the royal house and sister of Jayasimha II, was a patron of the Jaina faith and she allowed her name to be associated with a Jaina temple in the place called Gonda Bedangi jinālaya.
Honwad in the Bijapur taluq rose to eminence by the middle of the Ilth century A.D. on account of the existence of a magnificent cuityālaya called Tribhuvana Tilaka. The temple was dedicated to Santinatha.
Hungund the ancient name of which was Ponnugunda was a stronghold of Jainism from early times. An epigraph of Hungund registers a gift of land for the benefit of the Jaina temple named Arasara basadi situated in the centre of the town.
Belgaum district : The tract covering roughly the present-day Belgaum district and the adjacent areas was known in olden times by the name of Kundi or Kuhundi Mandala. This region was under the rule of the princes of the Silahara and Ratta families who were Jaina by persuasion and who contributed substantially to the prosperity of the Jaina faith as is evidenced from the large number of epigraphs.
Halsi in the Khanapur taluk distinguished itself as an early and thriving centre of Jainism. The Gokak plates of Dejja Maharaja registers a gift of land in the Jalaragrama for the worship of divine Arhat and for the maintenance of learned ascetics devoted to teaching. The gift was made in the hands of Acarya Aryanandı. Saundatti was an ful centre of Jaina religion from the period of the 9th century A.D.
Konnur in the Gokak taluk was another prominent seat of Jainism. So was Kalholi in the same taluk.
Adur in Dharwar district : Two early inscriptions engraved on a single slab of stone came from Adur in the Hangal taluk. The first of these registers a gift of land made to a Jaina temple of Dharma Govinda. The second epigraph refers itself to the reign of the Western Caulukya king Kirtivarına II and records the grant of a piece of wet land probably to the same temple.
Mulgund in the Gadag taluk was a renowned centre of Jainism from early times and this is gathered from a number of epigraphs discovered here.
Interesting is the revelation made by the inscription engraved on the dhvaja stambha or flag-pillar standing in front of the temple of Narayana in Mulgund. From the epigraph it is plain that the pillar belonged originally to a Jaina temple and that it was subsequently appropriated by the builders of the Narayana temple.
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