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pying these resorts. Inscriptions engraved therein provide the names of resident monks and some of the śrāvakas who gifted the stone beds.
When Jainism gained popular support in Tamilnadu, some of the kings belonging to the Cera and Pandya dynasties and a few minor chieftains started extending their patronage to this sect. Lay devotees also began to endow Jaina monastic organisation. Moreover, the members of mercantile groups had also played a dominant role in the development of such institutions.
With the rapid spread of Jainism, there arose several settlements of the Jaina community in different parts of Tamilnadu. Though all those ancient centres are not known to us, Madurai, Tiruvellarai, Tondi, Petalai, Tidiyil, Elaiyur, Venpalli, Nagaperur, Patinur, Nelveli, Nalliyur, Karur, Yarrur, Pakanur and Kunrattur had been important settlements with a sizable Jaina population, which lent its support to the various monastic organisations.
[July 1689 ]
170/JAINTHOLOGY
