Jinamanjari 2000 04 No 21

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

Page 80

To guess and assess the situation and other similar circumstances under which the present day non-Jaina places of worship still posses the Jaina relics. is a big undertaking. Furthermore, it may be noted that some of the Jaina epigraphs are found on the slab used in non-Jaina structure as a part ceiling, wall, pillar, gopuram, compound, tank, or reservoir. An example is the tenth C.E. Jaina epigraph being used for the steps on the bank of the river. It registers the death of Mariabbe, spouse of Māramayya and mother of Aṣṭopavāsiṛṣi, Būtayya and Attayya [EC.III (R) No. 211 C. 10th cent. Tayur (Mysore Dt, Nanjangud Tk) P. 300]
One can not but surmise, on the basis temples, if not all, are either converted or restructured into non-Jaina holy places of worship. In the process of careful remodeling of Jaina temples into non-Jaina temples, Jaina relics and vestiges are retained to speak of the conversion, from Jaina to non-Jaina temples. Though this paper is based on only a sample survey at random, a thorough, systematic and meticulous study without bias would yield more conclusive and authentic evidence on this topic. The study would facilitate the reconstruction of the position of religions in the early history of Karnataka.
Conversion of Jaina sanctuaries and Buddhist vihāras into Hindu shrines was a common affair in Andradeșa. A good number of Buddhist stūpas were converted into Hindu places of worship at Cebrōlu, Bidāpura and Bezvāḍa. It is said that Adi-Sankarācārya and his followers demolished Buddhist and Jaina holy centers, including monasteries, sanctuaries and libraries, systematically and ruthlessly at various places including the region of Nāgārjuna Konda. At Kambadur, which is situated 82 kms from Anantapur, Hindu Mallikarjuna temple has Jaina inscriptions, and a Jaina panel on the northern wall indicate that this temple was originally Jaina temple, and later it was appropriated by Saivites. [Jain Monuments in Anantapur in Jain Journal, Vol. XXXII, No.3, January 1998.]
Henry Cousens has observed this fact in his book, 'The Calukyan Architecture [1926: p.13]: Rāmagiri-Ramatirtham flowered into an influential centre of Nirgrantha faith and learning under the patronage of Viṣṇuvardhana-IV (C.E. 771-806). The Rāṣṭrakūta king Govinda-III (C.E. 793-814) had once retired to the banks of the Tungabhadra and fixed his camp at the Ramesvara-Tirtha when Viṣṇuvardhana-IV and his successor Vijayaditya-II (C.E. 808) of Vengi were ruling. Prince Amoghavarṣa-I was then a tiny tot of six years old. Trikalayōgin Siddhantadēva muni, preceptor of the king stayed here to observe austurities. Ugraditya, a celebrated Jaina pontiff and author of Kalyāṇakāraka, a treatise on medicine, completed his work at the same Rāmagiri Jaina monastery. At present the place is in the custody of non-Jains.
In Tamilnadu, conversion of Jaina edifices maybe corroborated with archaeological evidence in the form of epigraphs, sculptures and architectural vestiges. A couple of them are found in the district of Kanyakumari. Citaral, also known as Tiruchchāraṇattumalai, whose natural cavern with two rows of sculptures of Jinas and the goddess Ambika on the overhanging rock as well as inside the natural cave of the ninth C. E.., was converted in thirteenth C.E. as Hindu Bhagavati shrine. The Hindu Nataraja temple at Nagercoil was a Jain shrine from about the eight through sixteenth C.E. It was appropriated by the Non-Jainas probably in C.E. 1588 with the installation of the images of serpent deities such as Adisesa and his consort Naga. Similarly, the Jaina natural cavern at
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