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historical sanctity, whereas another tradition says that when there was an irresistable attack on the Jain faith and its scriptures, the Shasanadevatas (called Yakshas and Yakshis in South India) carried these scriptures off towards south and when they came to Moodbidri they could take breath of contentment, as they saw a large congregation in front of Sri Parshwanatha Swami Temle of Moodbidri and handed over all the holy scriptures that they had to the people, and to the surprise of all they instantly disappeared. Realising the importance of these volumes, and also being convinced of the fact that those who had brought them were divine beings, the people of Moodbidri preserved them in the same temple which, for the same reason, came to be called Siddhanta Basadi later on.
Apart from the sacredness and their message to posterity and the deep philosophy that the Dhavala Siddhantas contain, they are known for the beautiful paintings that they contain. There are hundreds of very beautiful paintings in the volumes and almost each page has a picture painted in different colours still preserved in a very good condition. By a clear examination of these paintings one can observe that, unlike other old Palm-leaf paintings where the pictures were carved in with the help of a pointed needle, these volumes have got the pictures painted clearly on the bare surface of the palm-leaves, where any base was not given and not even in a single place the marks with the needles are made, but instead it can be observed that very thin lines are drawn with the help of a very thin painting brush. Minute details have been given due attention by the painter. Congratulations to the Painter who has done these master pieces on the palm leaves which are about 21/2 inches wide with such colours as have not faded even the slightest after the passage of many centuries.
Another point to be noted in this connection is that there have been used some pictographical signs in the place of numerals to number the palm-leaf sheets. The author has maintained uniformity throughout. The specific importance of the numbering signs is that they are not found in other volumes of the contemporary period or of later ages. It is not possible to identify these numerals with any of the existing ones. Suffice it to say that the author of these volumes has displayed his special ingenuity in inventing new numerals, which have all preciseness and exactness like the modern Arabic numerals.
Sri Digambara Jain Math. P. O. Moodbidri, 574227 (Karnataka)
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