________________
4. JAINIAN IN KARNATAKA
155 sonde religious ceremony at Kondakunde also; because it was considered a Tirtha and associated with the sacred name of the great teacher Kondakunda.
We may next review here two more epigraphs found in other places at Konakondla. The inscription' engraved on a slab on the hillock called Kailasappa Gutta, registers a gift of land, flower-garden and house-sites for the benefit of the temple named Chatta Jinalaya. This was constructed at Kondakundeya Tirtha by a lady named Nalikabbe in memory of her deceased husband. The gift was made by Mahamandalösvara Jöyimayyarasa who was governing the tract of Sindavādi One Thousand in A. D. 1081 in the reign of the Western Chālukya king Vikramāditya VI. It is of particular interest to note that the place is referred to in this record as a Tirtha, Koņdakunde being the name of the place. We may also note the establishment of the Jinālaya in this place.
Another inscription was found on a slab set up in front of Ādi Chennakēśava temple in the village. The record is, unfortunately, damaged and worn out and so its purport cannot be properly made out. It is a Jaina record. It commences with the familiar invocation to the Jinaśāsapa. The next few lines (ll. 3–10) seem to have contained the description of the place to the effect that it was renowned in the world, being the place of birth of the eminent teacher Padmanandi Bhattāraka who conquered the quarters with his doctrine of Anēkānta, a veritable ship to cross the ocean of worldly existence. The name Padmanandi occurs twice in the description and there is allusion to the Chāraņas, which bears significance ; for Kondakunda is invariably compared with the Chāraņas. After this comes the reference to the Kondakunda anvaya. I am inclined to think that in this highly interesting record, Kondakunda was praised under his proper name Padmanandi. This record would thus furnish almost a conclusive evidence in favour of the identification of the domicile of Koņdakunda with modern Konakondla. In the subsequent portion of the epigraph, we are introduced to a preceptor of great reputation by name Nayakīrtidēva Saiddhāntika Chakravarti, and to the prince Kumāra Tailapa who was administering the tract of Sindavāời wherein the village Kondakunde was situated. The inscription refers itself to the reign of Tailapa's father, the Western Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI (A. D. 1076-1126) and the portion containing the precise date seems to have been lost.
FURTHER EVIDENCE: Further, we may take into account a few of the sources that purport to connect the great teacher Kondakunda with this
1 S. I, I., Vol. IX, pt. i, No. 160. 2 Ibid., No. 288,
