Jinamanjari 1999 09 No 20

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

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that the ancient name of the hill at Jilakaragudem was Mahanagaraparvata, and not Pitund of Ptolemy as expressed by Prof. R. Subramanyam.
The above accounts, therefore, prove that the Jilakaragudem rock-cut monasteries were originally a Jaina settlement, and disproves the Buddhist affiliation. It is very important to note the observation of V.A. Smith in the context of identifying ancient religious monuments of India. He has noted that in some cases monuments which are really "Jain have been erroneously described as Buddhist." The Jaina Jilakaragudem site which was originally a Jain shrine was later appropriated by the Buddhists, and now it is being considered as a famous Hindu shrine.22
Kondlakonda Cave is situated in Kondlakonda village, which is on the roadside that leads to Uravakond from Guntakal in Anantapur district. It became famous as the domicile of the great philosophersaint Kundakundācārya. He was not only the most important pioneer of the Saraswati or Vakragacchha, but also the earliest exponent of Jaina faith in Andhra. His life and activities form an important landmark in the history of Jainism, particularly in Southern India. He lived in the first century C.E.,2 23 and this is the first and the earliest Jain establishment headed by Kundakundācārya in the Rāyalaśima area of Andhradesa.
Though no Jain antiquities of the Kundakunda period are found in the village, there is a spacious natural cave situated at the opposite side of the Zilla Parisad High School. The cave is quite large and capable of accommodating seats for fifty disciple/students under its flat and horizontal rock roof. Kundakunda might have lived in this natural cave which possess no carvings; however, on the hillock which is known as Rasaśiddula Gutta the antiquities belong to thirteenth century.
Penicalapadu Cave, in the village of the same name, is situated in the Muddanur mandal of Cuddapah district. The village is about four miles from Muddanur town and connected by bus-route only. Penicalapadu possess a natural rock-cut shelters on the hill, and one of the shelters called as sanyasiguṇḍu is a cave dwelling that can accommodate ten devotees easily and contains an inscription written in early archaic Telugu characters. It informs that a great saint who is well-versed in all skills resided there. Presently, it is converted into a Hindu temple.
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