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THE WORLD OF JAINISM
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Jainism reached Andhra Pradesh through Lord Mahavir himself who preached the precepts in Kalinga. Later it clashed with Buddhism there which had almost replaced it. The struggle continued and Ashoka's grand son, Samprati revived it in the 3rd century B.C. He also sent Jain missionaries to different parts of South India to propagate the faith. Under the Satavahanas Jainism thrived as the leading religious order in Andhra Pradesh until its influence gradually waned on account of the combined resistance and persecution from resurgent Buddhism and Hinduism.
In Tamilakam
Silappadikaram, the immortal Tamil epic by the mendicant Kerala Jain prince Ilango Adigal reveals that by the time of its composition in the 2nd century A.D. Jainism had become a dominant faith in Tamil Nadu. Ilango was the younger brother of the Chera emperor Chenkuttuvan. To defeat a prediction that the throne would pass on to him and not to Chenguttuvan, the real heir-apparent, on their father's imminent death, he renounced his royal lineage and became a Jaina monk. Silappadikaram clearly displays his strong inclination to Jainism and the high sense of ethics and tolerance his personality radiates.
Around the story of Kannaki, an embodiment of chastity and her ill-fated husband Kovalan, both belonging to leading trading families of Puhar, the capital city of the Cholas, Silappadikaram depicts the life and history of southern India in the early centuries of the Christian era. The asceticism of her tormented soul raised the fire that burnt Madurai, the city that wronged her innocent husband. The epic reflects the encyclopaedic knowledge of Ilango Adigal who as a Jain monk had travelled throughout the length and breadth of the country observing as a connoisseur of art the customs and manners, and the joys and sorrows of the people of his day. The Pandya kings of the early Christian era were all Jains. Jain temples and monasteries existed throughout Tamilakam, especially in Madurai, Puhar, Uraiyur and Vanchi around which the story revolves. Shaivism, Vaishnavism. Jainism and Buddhism then prevailed everywhere with complete tolerance. Freedom of worship was absolute as even members of the same family used to subscribe to different faiths. The memory of Ilango Adigal and his immortal classic has recently been perpetuated by the Tamil Nadu Government by erecting, at Kaveripattinam on the confluence of river Cauvery, the happy homeland of Kannaki and Kovalan, a mangnificent seven storv art gallery, Silappadikaram Kalaikoodam, in ancient Dravidian architectural style. The structure narrates the story in stone carvings.
Another great Sangham classic expounding the Jain philosophy is Jivaka Chintamani by Thirutthaka Thevar, a resident
