Religion and Culture of the Jains

Author(s): D C Sirkar
Publisher: University of Calcutta

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RELIGION AND CULTURE OF THE JAINS
an old temple of Mahāvira, renovated subsequently under the Cola and Vijayanagar rulers. This Jain centre near Kāñcīpuram was the pontifical seat of the Jains before it was superseded by Cittāmūr, the present headquarters of the Pontiff of the Tamil Jains, probably after the 15th century A. D. The close relations that existed between the Pallavas and Gaigas in the 6th century also account for the popularity of Jainism.
Mahendravarman's leanings to Jainism are also believed to be implied in the absence of any reference to the Jains in his well-known satire in Sanskrit, the Mattavilāsaprahasana. 17 His conversion to saivism is likewise read into the words of the famous Tiruchirappalli cave inscription, viz., vipakşa-vștte” parāvșttam (turned from hostile conduct, etc., to the worship of the linga) found in the LalitāňkuraPallaveśvaragpha. 18 However, the controversy over theinterpretation of this record has not yet been set at rest.
If the Periya Purāņam reference to a Kādava is to Mahendravarman (Guņabhara), then his conversion led to serious consequences for the Jains, who lost an important monastic centre at Pāțalikā. At Tiruvadigai, there is a much dilapidated brick shrine, containing even to-day a huge Dhārā-linga of the Pallava style, which goes by the name of Gunadaraviccuram. The area contains a few Jain vestiges, and the saint convert Appar is said to have realised the superiority of the Saiva religion at this Virațțānam or Siva temple.
The religious activities of Mahendravarman's successors would in no way indicate a complete annihilation of the Jains. after the 7th century. Most of them personally favoured the Saiva and Vaişņava faiths, but, as true statesmen, did not
17 C. V. Narayana Ayyar, Origin and Early History of Saivism in South India, pp. 303-04. According to K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, the Jains. are criticised, but not vehemently. See 'The Mattavilāsaprahasana of Mahendravarman', in Prof. P. Sundaram Pillai Comm. Vol., 1957, pp. 85-90. 18 Gunabhara-nămni rājani anena lingena lingini jñānam prathatām cirāya loke vipakşa-yrtteh parāvrttam[/
(S. Ind. Ins., Vol. I, p. 29):