________________
206
JAINISM IN SOUTH INDIA It is very likely that on account of its proximity to the Vijayanagara capital, this place also fell a victim to the dire forces of vandalism that were let loose in the country after the battle of Rakkasa Tangadagi ( A. D. 1565).
HALGERI This village is about 4 miles towards the north-west of Kopbal A few inscriptions on stone, some remarkable hero-stones and a Nishidhi slab were noticed here. The Nishidhi stone was built into the platform of the margosa tree near the village chávadi. It bears the figure of an ascetic in meditative posture having at the top the small effigy of the Jina with the triple umbrella. One of the inscriptions (No. 47) has been assigned to the early period of the 7th century A. D. The reference to Kopaņa contained in this record is one of the earliest on the subject.
MADINŪRU This village is about 4 miles towards the north of Kopbal. It possesses a large number of antiquities and only a few of these are of Jaina persuasion. There is a Jaina temple of recent construction and a few Juina families are residing here. The temple is dedicated to the god Chandranātha or the Chandraprabha Tirthakara. Images of Pārsvanātha and other deities of the Jaina pantheon were lying in a forsaken and damaged condition near the temple of Chandranātha and in other places. An image of a female ascetic was also noticed. Only one inscription was found here in the Virabhadra temple. The epigraph furnishes much useful information regarding the history of this place. It constituted an agrahāra and was known by the name Modeganūru. It was one of the headquarters of the Southern Kalachuris during the reigns of the sons of Bijjala II, Râya-Murāri Sõvidēva and others. The presence of the temple of Chandranātha or Chandraprabha Tirthakara in this place seems to bear some significence. We already know from the copper plate charter of Sadāśiva Nayaka of Keladi, dated in a. D. that Kopuna possessed a renowned temple dedicated to the god Chandranātha. Now, perhaps we shall not be wrong if we reasonably surmise that when Kopbal was subjected to the forces of destruction, the famous image of Chandranātha or its substitute was somehow removed, as a measure of safety, to this out of the way, though not remote, village and installed in a temple.
RAJŪRU This small village is situated in the Yalbargi taluk of the Kopbal District and lies a few miles away from the headquarters. Two objects of Jaina interest were noticed here. One is the Jaina inscription edited elsewhere (No. 53). The other is what appears to have been a Nishidbi memorial. This was a piece of stone built into the wall of the Siva temple near which was
