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Early History of Jainism and Migrations....: 13
Andhra Pradesh
According to Jawaharlal, Andhra was home to a community of Jains as early as 4 century BCE." Moreover, "The early Jain monks were mostly highlanders and preferred natural caves, for their stay on the tops of the hills, which were inaccessible." The rock-shelters and caves located along the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh may have served as temporary refuges for the Jain mendicants. What distinguish the Jain caves in Andhra from those of the Buddhists are the rock-cut beds and inscriptions. Jawaharlal suggests that these rock-cut beds were used in observing the vow of sallekhană, fasting until death."
At present, there are only three sets of Jain caves in Andhra that date prior to the 5th century CE. The first is a natural cave at Malkonda in Prakasam district, which contains an unspecified number of rock-cut beds inside. The cave is located on a hill and has a prepared drip ledge and a smoothed interior floor. A drip ledge is necessary during the rainy season to direct water downward, across the front of the cave. Without a drip ledge the water will follow the curve of the rock and flow into the cave. On the drip ledge there is an inscription in Brahmi characters dating to c. 3rd century BCE." According to Jawaharlal, the record is a donation by Sri ViriSethi, son of Nanda Sethi of the Aruvähila-kula. Jawaharlal associates the Aruvähila-kula with the Aruva caste and from this to the Aravas, a Telegu name for Tamils. Extending this reasoning further, this inscription therefore attests to the support of a Jain monastic community in central Andhra Pradesh by a patron of Tamil origin.
Another cave, locally referred to as Munulagutta ('the hill of ascetics') in Kapparaopet, Karimnagar district contains the remains of four rock-cut beds with low pillows. There are no inscriptions. However, some Satavahana coins dating between the 2nd and 1" centuries BCE were discovered nearby." This hill may therefore date back to roughly this period. On the other hand, Karimnagar is located in the heartland of the Satavahana Empire. Therefore, the presence of Satavahana coins is not surprising and their location near the cave may be purely coincidental.
A series of caves on a hill at Jilakaragudem in West Godavari district, called the Gunțupalli caves, were originally attributed to the Buddhists. However, there is an inscription engraved on one of the faces of a limestone shaft which records the grant of the mandapa by Chula-goma, the recorder of Mahämekhavahana Kalinga chief Sada. The title of a Mahāmekhavahana from Kalinga reminds one of the famous Häthigumpha inscription of Mahāmeghavahana Khāravela from Orissa, mentioned above. Because Kharavela was a great patron of Jainism, Jawaharlal reasons that the Mahämekhavahana chief in this inscription may have also been a Jain. If so, this would suggest that the cave bearing this inscription may have initially been inhabited by Jains. Moreover, if this chief Sada was a descendant in the line of Kharavela, then this inscription could be dated to some point after the 2nd century BCE. However, the Mahāmeghavahana dynasty ruled Kalinga up until the early 5 century CE. Therefore, it is possible that this inscription dates from a later period when Jainism was not patronized by Mahāmeghavahanas and thus the cave may have only been inhabited by Buddhists and not Jains."5
The majority of archaeological and epigraphic evidence from Andhra Pradesh related to Jainism seems to date from the 9th to 12th centuries CE." Desai explains this 'gap' in evidence as due to
