Kevalaodhi Buddhist And Jaina History Of Deccan Vol 2

Author(s): Aloka Parasher Sen, B Subrahmanyam, E Siva Nagi Reddy
Publisher: Bharatiya Kala Prakashan

Page 120

A KUNTHUNATHA JINALAYA AT HAMPI
K. M. SURESH
Hampi, now a small village is situated (Lat. 150-20'N and Long. 70°-30', E), on the southern bank of the river Tungabhadra, in the Hospet Taluk of Bellary District in Karnataka. The word Hampi or Hampe is generally held to be a later Kannada form of the ancient Pampa. During the medieval period, Hampi was also known as Pampakshētra, Bhaskarakshētra, Pampatīrth of Rāmāyaṇa fame, Pampa, and so on. Reference to the site in the inscriptions, copper plate grants and literary works are numerous. A poetical account describes that "its rampart was Hemakūta, its moat the auspicious Tungabhadra, its guardian the world protector Virūpāksha, its ruler the great kings, Harihara". Before the founding of Vijayanagara, this place was a center of human activities right from the pre-historic times till to day and was a part of the kingdoms of the Kadambas, the Chalukyas of Badami, the Rāştrakūtas, the Chalukyas of Kalyana, the Hoysälas, the Kalachuris and the Yādavas, until it became the capital of the mighty Vijayanagara empire. From 8th century AD onwards, temples were erected in large number at Hampi and the Virūpāksha temple was already in existence, though not in its present form. "This place became more important during the 12th century AD with the addition of few more temples. With the establishment of the Vijayanagara kingdom, Hampi acquired greater political importance and emerged as one of the leading cities of the medieval period. In the inscriptions, Hampi is referred to by various names as Virūpākshapura, Hampe, Hosapatana, Vidyānagara and Vijayanagara. The Portuguese travelers who visited to this place called it as Beejnuggar.
Jainism is an old religion, which has made profound influence on the lives and the culture of Karnataka. For nearly twelve hundred years from THE 2nd century AD, Jainism played an important role and part in the social and political life of the people of Karnataka. Before coming to Vijayanagara, the advent of Jainism in Karnataka is assigned to the 4th century BC. The Jaina tradition states that Bhadrabāhu and his royal disciple, Chandragupta Maurya migrated to the South, owing to a great famine that lasted for twelve years in the north. The two Jaina ascetics along with a good number of followers reached Srāvana Belagola and breathed their last on the Chandragiri hill in the 4th century BC, although no early literary and inscriptional evidence is available to support the Bhadrabāhu-Chandragupta Jaina tradition. It appears first in the Srāvana Belagoļa epigraphs of the 7th century AD. The Brihatkathakosa of Harisēna, which was composed in 931 AD, is the next important source regarding this Jaina tradition in Karnataka. R. Narasimhachar concludes on the basis of the Srāvana Belagoļa epigraphs that the story of the Bhadrabāhu-Chandragupta migration has some basis to stand, but the contemporary and corroborative evidence are not clear for the introduction of Jainism in Karnataka in the 4th century BC.
From the 4th century AD, onwards, we get plenty of evidence for the existence of Jainism in Karnataka. An inscription dated 370 AD , refers to the Achārya Vīradēva, who was the preceptor of the Ganga king Mādhava II, and who granted some plot of land and the Kumārapura village for the benefit