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JAINISM IN INDIA
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Mysore road. There are Jainas at Manantody and Kalpetta in Wayanad. The Devi Temple on the top of the Edakkal cave is also believed to have been a Jaina temple.
In Palghat too, relics of Jainism are available. One interesting temple in Palghat beside the one at Alatur is the small Jaina temple near Basil Mission Tile Works, which caters the spiritual need of a few Jainas in Palghat and Mundur. It is believed that there were two Jaina settlements one at Muttupattanam and the other at Macalapattanam and that they were dispersed as a result of Hyder's invasion. Even now the Jainas inhabit Puthan Angadi and other places. Mannarghat Pallikurup, Tacanpara, Nattukallu, Tuppanad, etc., in Palghat district are the other strongholds of the Jainas in Kerala.
At Alatur in Kavasseri Amsom in Palghat district there is a ruined Jaina temple with sculptures and inscriptions scattered all over. The site of the ruined temple is popularly known as 'cakkayar tottam' or ‘kundam' - a colloquial derivation probably from 'Sakya Garden'. In olde there was little distinction between the Jaina and the Buddhist sects. The ruined temple is on a hillock. No details are available about the character of the temple or its main deity as the whole edifice has been destroyed. The sculputres of Mahavira and Parsvanatha and an inscription in Vattelutu, partly broken have alone been recovered from the site of the ruined temple. Several beautiful broken, sculptures believed to be those of Mahavira were found strewn on the hillock and in the fields around. The temple and thè sculptures show signs of ravages.
The image of Mahavira recovered from Alatur is seated in the parrankasanu pose on a simple but nicely finished bhadrāsana. The figure is exceedingly graceful and the proportions are well modelled. The face displays inner composure and self-absorption. These indicate an carly period, probably the 9th and the 10th centuries A.D.
The other sculpture is that of Parsvanatha. Instead of seven or five hooded cobra above Parsvanatha, a three hooded cobra alone is seen. He is in a kalotsarga pose.
A granite inscription, broken at top, in Vatteluttu script and Tamil langligae is in a very bad state of preservation and it has not been possible to decipher it properly. It is believed to have been engraved by an assembly of several bodies such as 'Narapattennayiravar, Patipadamulain of Tirukkunavayttevar. Atlikosain, and the Adiganmar of Nalanjiyar to lay down the principle that the right of collecting levies such as
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