________________
888
JAINISM IN SOUTH INDIA
succession was as follows. Vardhamāna was an early preceptor to the Ganga family. He had two disciples, Vidyānanda Svāmi and Māņikyanandi, the latter styled Tärkikarka, i. e., 'the sun of logicians'. Māņikyanandi was succeeded by the three generations of disciples, viz., Guñakirti, Vimalachandra and Gunachandra. Gandavimukta I and Abhayanandi were the two disciples of Guņa. chandra. Abhayanandi's succession was continued one after another by Sakalachandra Siddhāntika, Gaņdavimukta II and Tribhuvanachandra. We are then told that since the Jaina establishment had lost its hereditary possessions as a result of the disastrous invasion of the Chõļa king, they were restored to the last named trustee teacher by the abovementioned Chalukya king.
We have already noted the importance of Lakkuņdi as a prosperous centre of Jainism. An inscription on a pillar of the Jaina temple in the village, dated in a. D. 1172, informis us that it was constructed by Ballele Jimayya and that Mahāsēna Pandita was functioning as its trustee in the above year. Two epigraphs noticed earlier have brought to light the existence here of Jaina temples bearing the interesting names Vasudhaikabāndhava Jinālaya and Nõmpiya Basadi. The inscription on the pedestal of a broken Jaina image kept in the Nagarāśvara temple` states that it was the gift of Rājavve, lay disciple of Traividya Narēndrasõna who appears to have been connected with the teachers of the Chandrikāvāta lineage.3
Lakshmēśvar which was known in former times as Purikaranagara, Purigere, Puligere, etc., is a famous place renowned in history and literature. It was an eminent centre of Jainism also, as revealed by its rich antiquities including a good number of inscriptions. The epigraphs which record various benefactions to the Jaina institutions that flourished here, ranging in date from the 8th to the 16th century, contain allusions to many Jaina temples and teachers who held charge of them. The names of the Jaina temples are as follows: Sankha-vasati, Tirthavasati, Mukkara-vasati, Rāchamalla-vasati, Gangakandarpa-jinamandira, GangaPermādi-chaityālaya or Permāļi Basadi, Sri-Vijaya-vasati, Marudēvi temple, Dhavala-jinālaya, Goggiya-basadi, Anesejjeya-basadi and Sāntinātha temple. It is interesting to note that as suggested by their titles and designations some of these were named after the princes of the Western Ganga house; for instance Ganga Permāời was the title of Būtuga 1I; Gangakandarpa, that of Mārasimha; and Rāchamalla was a Ganga ruler. Sankha-jinālaya appears to have been the earliest and highly honoured of these temples. This has survived to the present day, as well as a few others.
1 An, Rep. on 8. I. Epigraphy, 1926-27, App. F, No. 30. 2 Ibid., 1984-85, App. E, No. 75. 8 Soe above, p. 136.
