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4. JAINISM IN KARNATAKA
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the image was installed by a chief named Krishnadeva who belonged to the Mula Samgha and Nigama anvaya. The record is dated in Saka 1232 or A. D. 1310. The reference to the Nigama anvaya, which appears to be a new name, is interesting.
GUNDKARJIGI: Guṇḍkarjigi in the Muddebihal taluk has preserved a part of a Jaina image, which though mutilated, furnishes interesting information. On the pedestal of the image are engraved the names of eight deities of the Jaina pantheon.1 Of these one is the Tirthakara Śantinatha and the rest refer to the Yaksha and Yakshinis of various Tirthakaras. The names of the Tirthakaras to whom they belonged, are not specified in the epigraph; but it is easy to identify them. On account of the peculiar nature of the record I shall give the whole list, along with my identification of the respective deities in the original order: 1) Aparajitā, the Yakshini of Mallinātha; 2) Vrishabha Yaksha, of Rishabhanātha; 3) Pātāļa Yaksha, of Anantanatha; 4) Kubēra Yaksha, of Mallinatha; 5) Mahāmānasi Yakshi, of Śāntinātha; 6) Anantamati, the Yakshini of Anantanatha; 7) Chakreśvari, the Yakshiņi of Rishabhanatha; 8) Santinatha Svami.
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It may be noted that the two Śasanadevatās each, of Rishabha, Ananta and Mallinatha and the Yakshini alone of Santinatha are represented here. We may also note the expression Yakshi used in the record. not in a position to explain the purpose and the real significance of these names which are inscribed on the base of a single idol. All these deities were probably incorporated in the sculpture which is unfortunately mutilated. The list, at any rate, is reminiscent of the popularity of the several deities that were under worship in this place or area.
HULLUR: An inscription on a stone standing in a field near Hullür' in the Muddebihal taluk, records a gift of land to the Jaina temple of the Kaṇḍur gana at Puluvara (modern Hullur), made by the lady Mrigavatiyabbe in the presence of the Twenty-four, the headman of the village and others. Kaṇḍūr gana, as we shall see, belonged to the Yapaniya Samgha. The Twenty-four appears to have been a body of 24 representatives of the Jaina community, their number perhaps imitating that of the 24 Jinas. We may recall our having met with a similar organisation in the Tamil country. This and the preceding epigraph from Gundkarjigi are not dated; but they might be roughly ascribed to the 13th century A. D.
BELGAUM REGION
The tract covering roughly the present day Belgaum District and the adjacent areas, was known in olden times by the name Kundi or
1 An. Rep. on S. I. Ep. 1929-30, Appendix E, No. 17. 2 Ibid., No. 29.
