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Arittapatti continued to be a flourishing Jaipa centre even in the 9th century A.D. as is attested to by an image of a seated Tirthankara, canopied by a triple umbrella over his head, carved on a boulder. The image was sculptured at the instance of the renowned preceptor Ajjanandi on behalf of the accountants of Nerkodu. The people of a village known as Vaniyak kudi agreed to protect the image. The hill at Arittapatti was by then called Tiruppinaiyanmalai.6
3. Mangulam : A village near Arittapatti, Mangulam is adjacent to a range of bills locally known as Kalugumalai Atop the steep ascent of rocky slopes are five caverns with rock-cut beds and Brahmi inscriptions. Four of these caverns are inscribed upon, while three of them have smoothly chiselled beds cut on the bottom rocks. The beds are generally found to run in different directions and are slightly bigger than those at Anaimalai. The overhanging boulder inaccessible due to its height, bears the inscription in bold characters while in one instance (the lowermost cavern) the inscription is on another boulder, which incidentally forms the backwall of the northern portion. Unlike other caverns, this possesses an unsheltered, sandy courtyard, hence no beds are found here. The southern part of the cavern extends to a depth of 49' 5" between two boulders serving as walls. The curvaceous cavern is 58' in length and its height is roughly 111' at the opening. On a platform are nearly thirtyone beds inside and outside. In the last cavern is a centrally cut out bed on a higher level measuring 7' 8'' by 5', which was probably meant for the chief among the Sramaņas
The cluster of caverns which formed the monastic establishment at Mangulam was presided over by a reputed monk called Kaninanta. Several stone beds were caused to be made in these caves by Kadalanvaluti, an officer of the Pandya king Nedunjeliyan, Chatikan and Ilanchatikan, brother-in-law and nephew of the same king. Besides, the members of the merchant guild of Tiruvellarai also had evinced keen interest in this monastery and a lattice work to the abode of Kaninanta was provided by them,? It is to be noted that the Mangulam inscriptions are the earliest epigraphs mentioning the name of the Pandyan king Nedunjeligan, who figures prominently in some of the Sangam classics.
4. Muttupatti : Muttupatti is a hamlet of Vadapalangy in Madurai taluk. About two furlongs east of it is a huge overhanging boulder
6 Mukkudai, July, 1975, pp. 13-14. 7 I. Mahadevan, Corpus of Tamil-Brahmi Inscription, Mangulam, Nos. 1-6.
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