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Vol. III, 1997-2002
Jina Parsva and his Temples....
One of the prestigious among the Parsvadeva caityalayas was the one constructed by Malala-devi, the senior queen-paṭṭa-mahadevi-of king Kirtivarma of the later Kadamba kula [EC. VIII-ii (BLR) sorab. 262. 1075. pp. 109-11]. The pratiṣṭhācārya of this basadi was her own guru PadmanandiSiddhantadeva, who was a maṇḍalācārya and a chief pontiff of all the caityalayas of Bandanikä-tirtha. This Parśva-caityalaya at Kuppatür was renamed Brahma-jinālaya. A socio-cultural significance of the installation was the presence of religious-heads of all 18 sacred places, and the learned ācāryas of Banavase-Madhukeśvara-deva temple who were received with due recognition. This is a rare occasion of religious tolerance that prevailed among the chiefs of various castes and subsects within.
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A dated inscription from Mannera-Masalavada (Bellary Dt/Harapanahalli Tk) records a gift of some plots of land to Vinayacandradeva, disciple of NemicandraRävula by the Mahamandleśvara Manneya Bhairava-devarasa, a Vaisnava by faith, along with the gaudas and others for the Jina Parsva temple of the tenth century [ARSIE 1944-45, B. K. No 63] and subsequently repaired by Kesava pandita, the Prime minister of the mahamandaleśvara Säliveya Tikama-devara-neyara, as also a general of Seuna king Rāmacandra. [SII. IX-i. 387. 1297]
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The name Sidila Sri-Jina-Pärśvanätha-mahācaityalaya appears in an inscription of late mediaeval period [SII. XV. 695. 16th cent.]
Kittür (Mysore Dt/Hg Tk) was the capital of Punnadu (Punnäța, Pumrāṣṭra) country which flourished between c. 3rd cent. B. C. and c. 9th cent. A. D., mentioned by Ptolemy (2nd cent. C. E.) had unreservedly patronised Jainism. The Bṛhat-katha of Harisena (A. D. 931) states that, on the advice of the apostle Bhadrabahu, a group of friars proceeded to Punnata-viṣaya. Kongu-visaya, a seat of Jainism, was on the border of Punnata. Ganga king Avinīta (c. A. D. 495-555) had married Jestha, a daughter of Skandavarma, king of Punnata, and their son Durvinita (c. 555-605) was also called 'Paunnäṭādhipati' in the inscriptions. Punnata's capital Kittür (Kirtipura, Kirti-mahanagarapura) was a seat of Jainism; "Kittüru-sangha', a cohort of friars and nuns, originated from this place. Acārya Jinasena of Punnăța-sangha, in his Harivamsapurana, has referred to the Punnatasangha brhat-gana. From Punnadu it spread to Vardhamanapura (Vadhavana in the Saurastra region of Gujarat) and its surroundings in the eighth century A. D.
17.1. As it were to support the above facts, a Jina Parsva temple at Kittur contains five inscriptions [EC. III(R) Hg. 126 to 130]. One of the undated and worn out epigraphs, on the pedestal of the mûlanayaka Vijaya-Pärśvanatha, seems to record the construction of god Vijayanätha (Pärśva) at Kittür On palaeographic grounds, the record is assigned to c. 12th A. D. [Ibid., 131 (XIV Hg 141) 12c. p. 518]. This Vijaya-Pārśva image belonged to Müla-Sangha, Käṇür-gana, Tintrinigaccha.
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