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 94

296
Kevala-Bodhi-Buddhist and Jaina History of the Deccan
Udayāditya Mahārāja to the basadi for repairs after washing the feet of Mēghachandradēva, the achārya of the basadi. The complete inscription can be said as a small Champu Kāvya. The statement that "Andhra Dharanītala' is to east of the kuntala dēśa is noteworthy.
During the time of the Noļambas also Jainism continued to flourish. A record from Amarāpuram, dated 1277 AD, registers that Mallisesti son of Sangayana Bommisețți and Mēlavve, the favourite disciple of Balēndu Māladhāri Dēva who was the senior pupil of Tribhuvan kīrti Rāvula of Ingalīśvara Mūlasangha, Désiya gana, Kondakundānvaya and Pustakagachcha, gave at Tammadihalli, the 2000 areca tress which belonged to his share to Prasanna Pārsvadēva of the basadi at Tailamgere known as Brahmajinālaya. The priest of this temple was Challapillai, a Jaina Brāmhaņa of Bhuvalökanātha Nallur in Bhuvalokanāthavishaya, and as sub-division of Ponnamarāvati-sime, north of Dakshiņa Madhure in the southern Pāndyan country. Challapillai is also referred to as Sayanagiri and was a dear disciple of Balēndu Māladhāridēva. From the produce of his garden land, the construction of the basadi from its upāna to stūpi, the mahamandapa, Bhadra, Lakshmi mandapa, gópura, parisūtra (enclosure), Vandanamale (festoons), Manasthamba, Sampurna vāhana and makara tõraņa was done. The present inscription proves that the produce from a garden is enough to construct a temple. It is for us to guess the worth of produce from such a garden. Another aspect is that the Jaina temple closely followed the architectural pattern adopted by the Hindu temples.
Another undated record”, probably belonging to 13th century, from the same place mentions that a basadi caused to be made by a disciple of Balēndu Màladhāridēva belonging to Tribhuvana Kirti Rāvula of Ingalīśvara belonging to Mülasangha, Dēsiyagana Konda Kundānvaya and Pustakagachcha. The vritti here was held by Challapillaidēva. The inscription from Haresamudram is quite important. As it is undated and badly damaged the full purport of the nature of the record is not understood completely. It records that Bijaya Mahādēvi was ruling Baragūru in Poļainādu granted by No!ambādhirāja (?) Siyavūra (Sira) was ruled by Akkabbe and Trailokyavo!alu by Dommabbe. It seems that they granted some land to a basadi. Penjēru is also mentioned here. The two queens were administering the two nādus and they jointly granted some lands to the basadi. This would prove that the women also actively involved in the administration.
Even during the Vijayanagara period, Jainism continued to occupy a considerable position and received due patronage from the royal house of early rulers. An epigraph from Rāyadurga refers to the reign of the Vijayanagara king Harihara and by the command of the king, Bhögarāja set up the god Ananta-Jinēśvara in 1355 AD. His preceptor was Māghanandi, disciple of Amarakīrtti of the Nandisangha, Balátkāra-gana, Sarasvata-gachchha and Kondakund-anvaya.
From a description of some of the above inscriptions a clear donation pattern can be made out. It is gathered that the males dominated in donating to the temple than the females. In as many as 34 instances males have donated in contrast to 5 donations by females. This suggests that the male dominated in the society. If the individual status of the donors is considered, the chiefs or Mahamandalēśvaras or immediate subordinates of the king occupy the top slot, followed by individuals. We have evidences to substantiate that queens occupied a prominent position. As many as in 5 instances they have contributed to the Jinalayas followed by mercantile community with 4 and kings with 3 instances. This proves that the women folk were involved in making donations and the status enjoyed by some of them is clear. It is curious to note that women from the lower rung were not involved in this activity while the women