Book Title: Jainism in South India and Some Jaina Epigraphs
Author(s): P B Desai
Publisher: Jain Sanskruti Samrakshak Sangh Solapur
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8. JAINISM IN TAMIL NAD
Jaina divinities and below one of these is an inscription in archaic Vaṭṭeluttu script stating that the image was caused to be carved by Ajjanandi. Taking a review of these sculptures associated with Ajjanandi, we may note that the majority of them constitutes the Jinas, one might be the portrait of his guru and another a Yakshini.
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We might also gather from the above account that Madura region formed the main sphere of Ajjana ndi's activities. Two more facts lend further confirmation to this view. One is the mention of Ajjanandi's mother Gunamatiyar in an inscription from Pechchi Pallam. The other is the image of Ajjanandi himself carved on the hill near Kongar Puliyangulam with an inscription recording his name below. This must have been incised by a pupil of Ajjanandi, may be after his demise, to commemorate his name.
Inscriptions pertaining to Ajjanandi give no information regarding his preceptor or preceptors and the monastery he was connected with. This seems to imply the supreme reputation and preeminent position enjoyed by him among the followers of the Jaina religion. There is no adequate evidence to ascertain the date of Ajjanandi with precision. But on consideration of palaeography of the epigraphis related to him, he might be assigned approximately to the age of the 8th and 9th century A. D.
All these facts are profoundly significant and they help us to judge the place of Ajjanandi in the history of Jainism in the Tamil country. During the later part of the 7th century and after, a very grave situation arose in the Tamil country against the followers of the Jaina doctrine. The tide of revival in favour of the Saivite and Vaishnavite faiths began to shake the very foundations of Jainism. Saint Appar in the Kanchi area and Sambandhar in the Madura region, launched their crusades against the supporters of the Jaina religion. Consequently, Jainism lost much of its prestige and influence in the society. It was in this critical situation that Ajjanandi appears to have stepped on the scene. He must have been a remarkable personality endowed not only with profound learning and dialectical skill, but also with practical insight and organising capacity. Inspired by the noble ideals of his faith and sustained by indomitable energy, he, it seems, travelled from one end of the country to the other, preaching the holy gospel, erecting the
1 Travancore Arobaeological Series, Vol. II, p. 126; here the name has been read as Achchanandi.
2. Such a state of affairs seems to have been reflected in the traditions which attempt to explain in their own way the Jaina associations of the hills like Anaimalai, Nagamalai and Pasumalai, near Madura. These will be examined in detail at a later stage.
