Jinkanchi Math
Jinakanchi Math: Its Contribution to Religion and Society
S. Thanyakumar
तमिलनाडु के शिलालेखों ने का उगता है कि यहाँ जन धर्म लगभग ५वी जातो ई.पू. से प्रचलित रहा है और १६वीं शती तक उसे राज्याश्रय मिला है उन नगरों को यही पलिकड़ा जाता था जिनमें जैन भव्य स्मारक रहा करते थे। दक्षिण तमिलनाडु में ऐसे स्मारक बहुत है। उत्तर तमिलनाडु में भी जनधर्म अच्छी स्थिति में था। जिनकाची इसका उदाहरण है।
Jainism Flourished In The Tamil Country With The Support Of The Chera, Chola, pandya, Pallava, Vijayanagara Rulers And Their Feudal Chieftains. Jains Lived In Almost All Parts Of The Tamil Country And Enlivened The Tamil Community.
Jaina Ascetics Lived In The Natural Caverns And Made Them The Main Centres Of Learning A Galaxy Of Renowned Jainu Preceptors Flourished In These Cloisters Where People And Pupils Were Taught And Educated. These Places Are Called Pallis. Even Today The Educational Institutions Are Called Pallis In Tamil. It Is Evident From About 585 Inscriptions Pertaining To Jaina Religion Discovered All Over Tamilnadu.
A Careful Survey Of Those Epigraphical Records Reveals That Jainism Flourished In The Tamil Country As Early As The 5 Century B.c. And Continued To Hold Till 16 Century With The Royal Support.
The Lithic Records Of Different Periods Reveal The Existence Of Many Jamna Pallis All Over Tamil Country. The Kings, Queens, Feudal Chiefs. The Mercantile Guilds And Agriculture Guilds And Lay Votaries Supported These Pallis. More And More Pallis Were Founded And Named After Them.
Alongwith These Pallis, Monastic Institutions Called “sanghas” Were Also Established. The Epigraphs From The Different Parts Of Tamil Country Reveal That Dravida Sangha (i.b.c.) At Patalika (present Day Cuddalore), Dramila Sangha (468-469 A.d.) At Madurai: Veera Sangha (9 Cent. A.d.) At Thirunarunkondai Functioned Imparting Theological And Regular Education.
In Sangam Literature. There Are References. To These Jain Pallis And Jain Ascetics. In Silapathikaram, A Tamil Classic, There Is A Detailed Account Of The Jain Palli, Jaina Nun And Charanas.
The Cave Shelters With Stone Beds, Sculptures And Epigraphs Provide The Material Evidence For The Rich Heritage Of Jainism In Tamilnadu. There Are Hundreds Of Such Jaina Monuments Spread. Throughout
Tamilnadu. And In Most Of These Areas Like Madurai, Tirunelveli, Pudukottal, Coimbatore, Erode And Trichy, There Are No Ancient Tamil Jain Settlements At Present.
The Southern Tamilnadu Is Rich In Jaina Monuments. The Monuments Include Caves, Inscriptions And Structural Temples In Ruin Or Converted Into Other Places Of Worship.
The Northern Tamilnadu. Generally Known As Tondainadu Is Noted For “living Jainism”. It Is In This Region Ancient Tamil Jain Families Are Living In About 100 Villages And Towns. There One Can See The Jaina Caves With Stone Beds, Brahuni Inscriptions. Tamil Inscriptions.
Cave Temples, Loose Sculptures, Structural Temples, With Paintings Underworship And Jaina Maths There Are Three Jain Centres With Structural Temples And Ancient Jain Community Living At Deepangudi, Mannargudi And Karunthittangudi Of Erstwhile Tanjore Dist. In Chola Country, Till Date.
The Difference In The Distribution Of Monuments. Inscriptions And Structural Temples Under Worship Between The Southern Tamilnadu And Northern Tamilnadu Is Reflected In The Number Of Inscriptions At Different Periods. There Is A Decline After The Early Period Le. 5 Cent. Be.-9 Cent. A.d. In The Southern Tamilnadu And A Gradual Increase From The 9 Cent. A.d.-18. Cent. A.d. In The Northern Tamilnadu.(1)
The Tondainadu Region Includes The Present Day Districts Of Chennai, Cuddalore, Kancheepuram. Thiruvannamalai, Thiruvallur, Vellore And Villupuram. In Thiruvannamalai And Villupuram Districts There Are Large Number Of Jaina Centres Till Date.
Ancient Pallis And Sanghas
The Jain Centres Of Tondainadu Were Flourishing With Pallichandam Land Grants During The Periods Of Pallava, Chola, Adiyaman, Sambuvaraya And Others. Most Of These Centres Are Concentrated In The Tindivanam, Vandavasi And Kanchipuram Taluks. The Oldest Structural Temple At Thiruparuthi
kundram, The Jinakanchi In The Outskirts Of Kanchipuram Received A Land Grant In The 6 Cent. Ad. Acharya Vajranandi Was In Charge Of This Temple And Later A Well Organized Rishi Samudaya- A Manivasa The-forerunner Of Matha, Functioned Here Till 15 Cent Ad. The Pontiffs Chandrakirti, Ananthavirya Vamana, Mallisena Vamana And Puspasena Presided Over The Jinakanchi Centre (2)
In Thirunarungkondai (9-12 Cent A.d.) A Galaxy Of Pontiffs Looked After The Matha Veeranandi Adigal, Kavi Paramesthiyar, Samayanathar, Gunabadracharya.
At Thirumalai, Near Polur Also A Jain Centre Flourished From 9 Cent Ad (3).
The Names Of Gunavira Maamuni And Arambanandl (4)
Were Recorded In The Inscriptions. One Of The Inscriptions Is Bilingual With Sanskrit And Tamil Portions. In The Sanskrit Portion Tirumalai Is Called Arhasugiri And In Tamil Portion It Is Referred To As Enguna Iraivan Tirumalai (the Hill Of The Siddha Paramesthi). (5)
In Some Other Centres, Called Pallis, The Traces Of Regular Institutions Can Be Discerned. The Pontiffs Names Include The Suffix. Adigal. In Perumundur Near Tindivanam, A Lithic Record Of Nandivarnam li Dated 866 A.d. Mentions. Ravikula Sundara- Perumpalli With Mallisena Peria Adigal As Pontiff (6)
At Anandamangalam. Another Village. About 12 K.m. From Perumandur, There Is A Cave With A Panel Of Exquisite Sculptures And An Epigraph That Calls This Centre Jinagiripalli. The Jaina Pontiff Varthamana. Peria Adigal Had Arranged For Feeding Of The Devotees. It Is Dated In 942 A.d. During The 35. Regnal Year Of Parantaka Chola L. (7)
In Sithamoor (melsithamoor) Near Gingee In Villupuram District. A Jain Centre Dating Back In 8 Cent A.d. (8)
Continues Till Date. It Has A Continuous History And Monastic Institution Called Jinakanchi Matha. There Are Two Temples: The Malainathar Temple And Parsvanathar Temple, Simmapuri Is The Ancient Name Of This Place. The Pontiff Has A Title “sri Lakshmi Sena Bhattaraka Pattacharya Varya Swamigal.
Bhattaraka Tradition And Mathas
All The Above Mentioned Institutions Have Become Extinct Except Jinakanchi Matha At Melsithoor. The Temples Attached To Them Are Still Under Worship. The Introduction And Continuation Of The Bhattaraka Tradition Made It Possible For The Sithamoor Centre To Continue Till Date
The Early Part Of The Medieval Period Was A Testing Time For The Digambara Jainas Of Different Parts Of India, Particularly South India. It Became Extremely Difficult For The Ascetics To Move Freely. Observing The Monastic Code Prescribed For Them. The Restrictions And Sometimes Persecutions. Prevented The Preaching And Influence Excerted On The Conduct Of The Lay Followers.
As A Result The Jaina Community Faced Disintegration And Sometimes Large Scale Conversion. Under These Adverse And Insecure Circumstances As A Policy Of Survival, The System Of Bhattarakas Was Evolved.
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