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58/The Later Gangas: Mandali-Thousand
ings, conducive to concentrated meditation and spiritual contemplation" (Ghosh, A, (ed): Jaina Art and Architecture, Vol. 1: 1974:36). Tirthankaras, a synonym for Jina, are the exalted teacher propagators of their own faith.
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The Mandali tirtha referred to in the charter, a name that has survived to this day, is to be traced in the ruins on the hill. Albeit, 'the Mandali tirthada basadi' was the crown-basadi, the 'Paṭṭa Jinālaya', the patron deity which formed the nucleus of religious life of the Mandali Gangas for several centuries. In other words that was the cathedral of the Ganga family. To be more precise, the Mandali-tirtha-Paṭṭa-Jinālaya was held in high esteem from C.E. 350 to C.E. 1600,till the final termination of the dynasty, Madhava-l being the earliest known Maṇḍali ruler who founded this basadi. The main deity or the Mula-nayaka of this Mandali tirtha temple was the Arhat Pārśva (Sh. 57. 1118, Nidige pp. 5761), the earliest known Jain temple of Jina Pärśva in Karnataka.
From the beginning of the tenth century and onwards, inscriptions provide ample attestation to the religious leanings of the Mandali rulers. Some of the charters also speak of the chief religious faith of the Mandali rulers and their individual subjects including the members of the official hierarchy. The chiefs of the Ganga Maṇḍali were the benefactors of the Jaina Church, the greatest among them being the Tribhuvanamalla Nanniya Ganga Permmāḍideva-ll (1118-58), who caused to be built 25 Caityalayas to help on the growth of his faith. He patronised Jaina institutions, both monasteries and monks, with liberal endowments, especially for providing food to spiritually accomplished caste gurus.
The effiicacy of devotion of the Jina, the spiritual victor and ford-maker, and to the Jinālayas also called Caityalayas and basadis, can be better illustrated by referring to the Mandalināḍ epigraphs. The basadis were rendered rich in lands and in money, in cash and kind, by generous donations of the Maṇḍali rulers, thier subordinates and their subjects, which accelerated the activities of Jaina monasteries, and Jainism virtually engulfed the Mandalināḍ.
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