Jinamanjari 1995 09 No 12

Author(s): Jinamanjari
Publisher: Canada Bramhi Jain Society Publication

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Mosali is located between the rivers Krishna and Godavary with its ancient capital that could be identified with present Masulipatam.
With the two long ever flowing rivers passing through large tracts of peninsular india connecting the high hills of western ghats and the sea of Bay of Bengal on the east the fertile plain is confined to deltas of the Krishna and Godavary in coastal track connecting Bengal on the north and Tamilnadu in south. They assure ample food reserves &andserve as arteries of trade and commerce. Moreover, the hills of the eastern ghats are the repositories of rich natural resources and thus Mosali seems to be rich even in the time of Mahavira.31
The trade links were the routes for religious propogation. The ancient places that contain the relics of the Jaina religiosity have been investigated along these two rivers. In the exploration, it was found that several villages were phonetically connected to the place names which Mahavira had visited. The organization of religious porpogators from different villages of Bihar and Bengal appeared to have played a key role in the spread of Jain dharma not only in Mosali, but also into Tamilnad and Karnataka.
Places along the river Krishna
1. Vaddamanu
Confining to the region of the river Krishna, the village Vaddamanu excavated recently has become an eye opener for early Jain settlements in the area. The excavations confirmed through epigraphical evidence that the place was named after the last Jain Tirthankara Vardhamana Mahavira.32 Besides, it has yielded several potsherds with inscriptions suggesting that gifts were made by the Jain sanghas from far off places like Bhoganagara and Hathigama. These places figure prominantly with the austerities of Mahavira. Moreover all these villages are located not far from each other along the course of the river Krishna, and the activities of Jain missioneries of Bhoganagara can be attributed to some places that go by the same names as Bhogapura, Bhoganagara3 etc. along southcoastal region. Evidently, they are Jain establishments with ancient relics and mounds.
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