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Manuscript Libraries of Moodbidri-Jain Math (South India)
Jnana yogi Bhattaraka Charukeerthi Swamiji (Moodbidri)
Moodbidri has been an important centre of Jainism from times immemorial, and it is known from History that Jainism landed its foot in this region in the first Century A.D. One Bhootlla Pandya, a rich Jaina merchant is said to have started trade with foreign countries from Barakur, an ancient port in the locality. Therefore, it would not be incorrect to say that Jainas had settled in the region a little earlier than that period. That is why during the reigns of the Imperial Chalukyas of Badami (5th Century onwards) Rastrakutes of Malkhed (8th Cent. onwards) and Hoysalas of Dwarasamudra (10th Cent. onwards) Jainism was welcome and it became a popular religion in the region very soon. Added to this, the tradition of the Jaina Math here shows that the Math of Charukeerti Bhattarak Swamiji was founded in the 12th Century A.D. Under the benevolence and patronage of this Math, Moodbidri could achieve marvellous progress in all walks of life, especially in the cultural field. The literature produced through the ages after the establishment of the Math here has been immense and varied.
All the Manuscript volumes belonging to the Digambara Jain Math Moodbidri are kept at present in the Srimati Ramarani Jain Shodha Samsthan, which is a Jaina research Institute at Moodbidri. Besides being a religious and cultural centre, Moodbidri has grown to be an educational centre with two colleges and some high schools, and it attracts scholars and intellectuals occassionally from different parts of India, as it possesses the invaluable treasure of knowledge in the form of manuscripts and as it caters to the needs of those who are in quest of knowledge and those who dare to dive deep in to the ocean of knowledge. Certainly they would discover the valuable pearls and jewels from the depth.
Recently, attempts have been started by a research scholar in the Srimti Ramarani Jaina Shodha Samsthan to go through these valuable manuscripts and bring to light the Jaina poets of Moodbidri and the sorrounding areas hitherto unknown. But it is a fact that practically such a work can not progress with greater
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