Jainism in Tamilnadu

Historic Tamil Jain Sites

Apr 25th, 2010 by admin

A large number of stone inscriptions which are 1000s of years old paint a picture of the prevalence of Jainism (Samanam) in Tamilnadu. These are scattered throughout Tamilnadu. This post will talk about such stone inscriptions, sites they are found and related content.

Madurai:

Name of the Village	No. of Stone Inscriptions	Script Type	How old	Type of Site
Alagar malai	7	Tamil Brahmi	2000	Caves beds, Statue
Anamalai	9	Tamil Brahmi	1900 – 1800	Beautiful Caves, Statues and Beds
Aritappatti	2	Tamil Vattaezheuthu	1000 – 2000	Caves , Statues and Beds
Karunkaalakudi	3	Tamil Brahmi,Tamil Vattaezheuthu	2000	Caves, Statues and Beds
Chettipudavu	4	Tamil Vattaezheuthu	1100	.
Keelakuilakudi	3	Tamil Brahmi,Kannadam	2000	Ruined Temple(Jinalayam)
Keelavalvu(Panchpandavar malai)	4	Tamil Brahmi	.	.
Kongar puliyankulam	4	Tamil Brahmi	2000	Hills
Kuppalanatham	1	Tamil Brahmi,Tamil Vattaezheuthu	1100	Hills
Mankulam malai	5	Tamil Brahmi	2000	Hills
Mettupatti(Annamalai)	5	Tamil Brahmi	1100	Hills
Pechipallam	6	Tamil Vattaezheuthu	1100	Hills,Caves and Cave Beds
Thiruparankundram	4	Tamil Brahmi	2000	Caves, Beds
Thiruvathvoor	2	Tamil Brahmi	2000	Small Hill, Caves, Beds
Uthamapalayam	9	Tamil Vattaezheuthu	1100	Thirugunagiri Malai
Varichiyur	3	Tamil Brahmi	2000	Caves
Vikramangalam	6	Tamil Brahmi	2000	Hill Caves and Beds

Related Speeches, News Articles on Jain monuments in Madurai:

A Speech about Jain monuments by Sri.T.S.Sridhar IAS, Principal Secretary and Commissioner of Archaeology, Tamilnadu.
A Speech about Jina palli by Kaviko. Abdur Rahman.
Articles about “Jain Vestiges” , “Unexploited Vestiges of Jainism” in The Hindu daily.
An Article about “Jaina treasure trove in Mankulam village” in The Hindu daily.
An Interview with scholar Iravatham Mahadevan about “Tamil Brahmi Inscriptions”

Kanyakumari:

Name of the Village	No. of Stone Inscriptions	Script Type	How old	Type of Site
Chitharal hill (Thirucharanamalai)	9	Tamil vattazheutthu, sanskrit	1100- 1000	Jina palli (jain temple)-Ruined stage
Nagarkoil	12	Tamil Sanskrit	493 yrs	Parswanathar Statue in lord Siva temple

Articles on Jain monuments in Kanyakumari:

Thoothukudi:

Name of the Village	No. of Stone Inscriptions	Script Type	How old	Type of Site
Kazhukumalai	99	Vattazhutthu	1200 – 1100	Caves,Thirthnkarar statue,Beds
Perungulam	1	Tamil	100 – 900	Caves,Thirthnkarar statue,Beds
Veerasigamani	2	Tamil	1100 – 1000	Caves,Thirthnkarar statue,Beds

Articles on Jain monuments in Thoothukudi:

Stories in Stones

The Jina Images at Kallugumalai

Rock-Cut Jain Sculptures and Inscriptions in Kallugumalai

Sivagangai:

Name of the Village	No. of Stone Inscriptions	Script Type	How old	Type of Site
Kunnakudi	2	Tamil Brahmi	1700 – 1600	Caves

Erode:

Name of the Village	No. of Stone Inscriptions	Script Type	How old	Type of Site
Arachaloor	3	Tamil Brahmi	1700 – 1600	Caves
Thingaloor	3	Tamil	950 -	Pushpathanthar Jinalayam(Poomendran temple)
Vijayamangalam	8	Tamil Sanskrit	1000 -	Jain temple

Articles on Jain monuments in Erode:

Vandals’ work

Digambar Jain Temple Complex Vijayamangalam

Monumental Neglect

Coimbatore:

Name of the Village	No. of Stone Inscriptions	Script Type	How old	Type of Site
Thirumoorthy malai	1	Tamil	250-	Statues

Dindukal:

Name of the Village	No. of Stone Inscriptions	Script Type	How old	Type of Site
Ayyempalayam(Iyar Malai)	14	Tamil Vatteluthu	1300 – 1100	Caves,Thirthnkarar statue
Devathoor	1	Tamil	1000 years	-
Mettupatti(Sithar Malai)	9	Tamil Brahmi	2000 years	-

Articles on Jain monuments in Dindukal:

A 1000 years old,they still charm Visitors

Mettupatti Epigraphy

Kamarajar District:

Name of the Village	No. of Stone Inscriptions	Script Type	How old	What is here?
Erukkan kudi	1	Tamil vattelthu		perumpalli ruined jain temple
Kovilankulam	2	Tamil	800 years	Ampalappaswamy temple (basement only available)
Pallimadam	3	Tamil vattelethu	1200 years	once great jain mon ks lived here

Articles on Jain monuments in Kamarajar District:

An article in The Hindu

Thirunelveli:

Name of the Village	No. of Stone Inscriptions	Script Type	How old	What is here?
Eruvadi	3	Tamil vatzhuethu	799 AD	Caves, beds, caves arts,Aruvalthu pattaraka Jinalayam (now this is not there)
Irattai pottai pari				Anthamil Palkunathu Athi, Idar Theerppan ena Arugan,pugal padukiran Great Ajjananthi Munivar arul palittha place
Kuttralam(pardesipari)	1	Tamil brahmi	1700-	caves
Marukal Talai(pooviludayar malai)	1	Tamil brahmi	2200- 2100	beds
Sikkikulam malai(Bakavathi koil)	2	Tamil	1254-	Niyaparipalap perumpalli (now it is not there)

Chidambaranar:

Name of the Village	No. of Stone Inscription	Script Type	How old	What is here?
Kazhukumalai	99	vattazhutthu	1200 – 1100	caves,Thirthnkarar statue , beds

Dharmapuri:

Name of the Village	No. of Stone Inscriptions	Script Type	How old	What is here?
Adhiyaman kottai	1	Tamil	800 -	ruined jain temple
Dharmapuri	4	Kannadam, Sanskrit	1100- 800	ruined jain temple
Hosur	1	Sanskrit, Tamil	871 -	ruined jain temple
Dhavalam	1	Sanskrit,Kannadam,Telugu	1200-	ruined jain temple

Ramanathapuram:

Name of the Village	No. of Stone Inscriptions	Script Type	How old	What is here?
Anumanthkudi	1	Tamil	1533-	Malavanathar Jinalayam
Ilayankudi	1	Tamil		Forty eight Thousand perumaplli Jinaalyam Bagavathi Nayakkar (inru illai)

Thanjavour:

Name of the Village	No. of Stone Inscriptions	Script Type	How old	What is here?
Avarani	1	Tamil	1193-	Chithirailekap perumpalli(now this is not there)
kokuoor(kooroor)	1	Tamil	1120 -	Kulothunga Chola perumpalli(now this is not there)
Maruthuvakudi	1	Tamil	1194 -	Sivan kovil culvettu – Sethi Kula Manikkaperumpalli Jinalyam Gankarula Sundarapperumpalli Jinalayam Inru illai(Now not exits)
Pallan kovil	1	Sanskrit,Tamil	536 AD	Seppedukal – Thiruparuthikundrathkku Uriya nilangal (Gift Land deed)
Ponvilanthan patti	1	Tamil	1200 -	-
Senthalai	1	Tamil	1000 -	Jianalyam(temple) ruined
Thirunageswaram	1	Tamil	907 -	Miladudaiyar palli(Jinalyam) now not exist

Thiruchirapalli:

Name of the Village	No. of Stone Inscriptions	Script Type	How old	What is here?
Anbil Pillayar koil	1	Tamil	-	Thiruvidaikudiyil – about Amuthamoli perumpalli Jinalyam
Jumbhukeswaram	1	Tamil	1233 -	Amanappalli – about Kaviraja perumpalli
Pukalur	10	Tamil Brahmi	1700 – 1800	Caves, Sirpangal, Beds
Arunattar malai				Seraman’s Arul kodai
Velayuthampalayam				Cave Beds
Sivayam(Kandakppari)	1	Tamil old Letter	-	-
Thrichirapalli near Ujjipillayar kovil	4	Tamil Brahmi,Vattazheluthu,Sanskrit	1700 – 1800	Caves, beds

Articles on Jain monuments in Thiruchirapalli:

Tamil Brahmi Scripts

Chengulpet:

Name of the Village	No. of Stone Inscriptions	Script Type	How old	What is here?
Anathamangalam (Jinagiri palli )	2	Tamil	400 -	Sirppangal
Arasankalani	1	Tamil	400 -	-
Kanchipuram	1	Tamil	1100 -	Kamatchi amman koilil
Karupankundram	1	Tamil Sanskrit	1200 -
Keerappakkam	1	Tamil Sanskrit	1100 -	Desavallapa Jinalayam exited were ruined
Mankadu	1	Tamil	800 -
Pudupattu	1	Tamil	Cholar period
Saravananpedu	1	Tamil	800 -	Ruined Jinalayam
Siruvakkam	1	-	-	Sirukaranapperumpalli Jinalayam
Thiruppandiyur	3	Tamil	1100 -
Thirupparthikundram	18	Tamil Sanskrit	900 -	Pallava, Chola, Vijayanagar king’s Gift is Jinakanchi

Articles on Jain monuments in Chengulpet:

South Indian Inscriptions

North Arcot:

Name of the Village	No. of Stone Inscriptions	Script Type	How old	What is here?
Elankadu	1	Tamil	500 – 400	Neminathar statue This statue was brought from Thirumailai (engraved in the base of this)
Karanthai(Munigiri)	17	Tamil Sanskrit	1154 – 250	Cholar , Vijayanagar dynasty’s gift
Kilsatthamangalam(Perumal Parai)	7	Tamil	1300 – 900	Jina Alayam (Jain Temple)
Kunnathur	1	Tamil	500 -	Jina Alayam (jain Temple)
Mamandoor	1	Tamil Brahmi	1700 1600	Hills
Othalavadi	3	Tamil	729 -	Jina alayam
Panchapandavar Malai(Thiruppan Malai)	2	Tamil	1220-	Malai
Ponnur	4	Tamil	227-	Jina alayam
Puduppadi	1	Tamil	900-	IRAVI KULA Manjckka perumpalli Jinalayam(Not exits now)
Poondi	1	Tamil	700-600	Veera Veera jinalayam
Chkkaramallur	1	Tamil	240 -
Chalukkai	2	Tamil	980 -	Cholar’s Period
Seeyamangalam	2	Sanskrit	1107-	Malai(hill)
Thirakoil	6	Tamil	1000 -	big mount hill
Thirumalai	23	Tamil Sanskrit	1120-1700	Mountain Caves temple, Cave’s art painting
Vallimalai	5	Kannadam, Sanskrit	975-	Mountain caves beds, cave painting’s, carved statues
Vazhuthalankunam	1	Tamil	700-	Mountain caves beds, caves
Vedal	2	Tamil	1115-	Caves almost about 900 jain monks lived here
Velappadi	2	Tamil	700 -	Mountain – ruined jina alayam exits, jain monks foot print exits
Vilappakkam		Tamil	1050-	-

Articles on Jain monuments in North Arcot:

Renovation of Temples

Article in The Hindu

Arungundram

South Arcot:

Name of the Village	No. of Stone Inscriptions	Script Type	How old	What is here?
Agaloor	2	Tamil	1200 -	mountain hill samanar important sthalam
Chola vandipuram	2	Tamil	1000-	Komadar, Padmavathi statues, caves,
Andimalai				cave beds padmavathi now call as Kali
Sithamoor	16	Tamil	888-	sithamoor koil maniya (gift land) nilangal
Dadapuram	1	Tamil	1006-	Kundavai jinalayam (now ruined)
Idayalam sithar parai	3	sanskrit, grantham,Tamil	1900-	caves
Jambai	1	Tamil brahami	1900-	caves
Koilyanoor	1	Tamil	500-	ruined jinalyam (Nainar devar perumanar koil)
Madavilakam(Rettanai)	1	Tamil	1128-
Melkudaloor	5	Tamil	911-	Mountain caves, cave beds
Olagapuram	1	Tamil		Sundara chola perumpalli jinalayam (not exist)
Olakkur	1	Tamil	1200-
Pallichandal	3	Tamil	928-	Naddar perumaplli jina alayam(not exist)
Parayanpattu	1	Tamil,Vattezhthu	1500-1400
Perumandoor	3	Tamil	866-1192
Tindivanam	1	Tamil	900-800	Statue kept in chennai musium (engraved in statue base)
Thirunathar kunru	2	Tamil Brahmi	1500-1400	57 days until fast to death(sallekanai)
Gingee Singavaram				mentioned about fasting of jain monks
Thiru Narun kondai	38	Tamil	1100-	Caves, cave beds,Jinalayam,carved statue 4800 perumpalli exited here. Inscription about perumpalli and jain math are here.
Thirupalla panthal	1	Tamil	1471	Panaipadi, ponparappu Jinalaym(not exist)
Thiruvathigai	1	Tamil	700-	Thiruvathigai jinalayam
Thondur	2	Tamil	1000-
Veedur	2	Tamil	1200-
Velur	1	Tamil
Vilzhukkam	1	Tamil

Articles on Jain monuments in South Arcot:

Mahavira bas-relief tells a story

Article in The Hindu

Early Tamil Epigraphy

Early Jain Vestiges, Tamil Nadu

Thanjavour Maratha Marvals

Epigraphy Compilation

Newfound Jain Sites