Jainism is an old religion that has survived in India and 'Silika.

Starting from the kramanic tradition, it had developed through the teachings

of the celebrated lain munis who were embodiments of sanctity. The theory

of Non-absolution or anaa'nta is the main principle of Jainism. This principle

is strengthened by ahihGwhich means Non-injury in thought, word and

deed as well. The Jainism advocates dharma, i.e., the righteous way of

living. According to Jainism, the external existence of ?va (soul) is based on

d r a w s (matter), pudgula (energy), dharma (medium of motion), adharma

(medium of rest), ~ka'&(space) and kila (time).

Jainism made its presence felt in Andhra by about the 4thcentury B.C

itself. The early history of Jainism in Andhra is equally important as that of

the other famous religion Buddhism which had also entered into Andhra at

the same time. The cultural aspect of Andhra, in its formative stages, was

highly interwoven with the element of Bhakti tradition, nature and totemic

aspects of primitive religion, heretical sects like the Nirgranthas and

Buddhists. The materialistic philosophy advocated by these religions,

especially the Jaina is to quote, 'It avers that a person's work will shape his

destiny. No god or outside agent can help him".

I n the period of the later and Upani;haad, the wandering ascetics

following their own strange and mystic principles were actively speculating

on philosophical aspects. The emphasis in the Upanishads

a was to severe
I
worldly ties and be homeless. Thus the wandering mendicants wen in large

numbers as can be seen from the literature of the period. According to

~anade' this was due to some external influences. He suggests that the

Evan migration along with some other people in a different stage of cultural

evolution that had the institution of itinerant asceticism gave rise to a new

orientation, This was adopted with modifications in terms of kyan discipline

and code of conduct. This, when it became part and parcel of the Xryan

culture, is characterized by leading life away from the society, living in the

forest or mountain caves. Occasionally, they used to come down to the

plains to preach this philosophy. Thus their sermons or preachings and

discourses paved way to the rethinking of the existing order of things by the

laity or certain sections of the society. The early texts of the post-vaic

period reveal the great importance given to the hermits, recluses, and

ascetics and their intellectual debates which attracted a large number of

gayas or disciples. This view of Ranade explains the nature of asceticism of

heretical and brghmanical paths of life.

The path of the rama an as is characterized by nivdtz7.. (turning away

completely from worldly life) and prav&a enjoying total anaggnatva (the

state of homelessnes). This enjoins the strict vow of non-killing,

truthfulness, non-stealing and celibacy. The concept of triguptidenotes total

abstinence by mind (m$nas), body (ka'ya) and speech (vzc). By cultivation of

this one can achieve an ascetic ideal of the body. The confessions of sins,

a&na and the performing of Pratikiamana expiation of sins are other

important features. The performance of 3lle'khanZ by Jaina ascetics to

attain salvation in k$otsaya posture acquired importance.

The life of ~ZrSvanZthathe 23rd trthahkara, and also the Fourfold

Path propounded by him are given in the Uttarsdhyayana Sctra, chapter

XXIII. The parents of MahZGra who came two centuries later, propagated

~a%hasikh&a, the Fivefold Path.

According to a tradition, Rishabha, the first 6thahkara, is referred to

in the Rigveda Sahhita (2-3), where a word ~Garasana-munisprobably

suggests Jaina ascetics who were also called ~eiins.

~ g m i ,the 21'' Tkhaikara, was the king of Mithilg and belonged to

the Janaka family of Upanishadic period. Hiralal Jain agrees with the

legendary association of this king and points out the verse 9 in the 9'h

chapter of the ~ttarzdhyayana-sFtrawhich describes the story of ~ami's

renunciation. These verses are also found in the $nt@awa' of the

~aha'bha'rataand the ~ahzjanaka-]%akaof Buddhism.

Little is known about the state of Jainism that existed between

~ 8 r i v a n ~ t hand
a Mah'aGra. During the time of Mah3r;a great changes were

taking place in the Gangetic valley. The urban revolution, the rise of cities

and kingdoms, particularly the rise of Magadha are notable for the time of

~ah;$a and Gautama ~uddha.' Mahavira was born at ~undagramaand

attained njTVzna at psvz At the age of 30 he renounced the world and did
penance for 12 years. After this for 30 years he undertook journeys to

various places in the Gangetic valleya3

MahZGra visited many places like ~stikagrgma,kavi or ilambika,

~ampz, ~hZgzpura, ~au&mbi, m h a , Madhyama-Gv; Malay;, Mithilz

Nalands, Rajagriha, i r ~ v a Siddhiirthapura,

s~ i6&li1 Vzran%i and ~ a i h l i .

M a h ~ i adevoted his entire miaionaly career to re-organize Jainism.

At that time the religious atmosphere was in a flux. Several kings, queens,

princes, princesses and many others were attracted towards the teachings of

Mah'lviia and became his devotees. It is said that fourteen thousand monks,

thirty six thousand nuns and half a million lay followers followed Mah~Gra,

of course, a statement that was not proved historically. However, Scholars

are of the view that the sixteen Mah~anapadascameunder the influence of

MahSGa. Ghatge remarks, "Later Jaina tradition without much historical

support, however, brings nearly all the kings of North India in those days in

relatior, to Mah2ra; by describing their queens as daughters of ~Gtaka,the

maternal uncle of ~ a h $ G a " . ~

It is well known that ~ a h z v korganized a Jaha community i.e.,

~illasalighain charge of Gandhgras, who organized the community in good

way. During the lifetime of MahZGa two schisms took place viz., Bahuraya

and ~ ~ a j m e s i However,
ja there was no response to them and they could

not survive.
 According to some traditions, ~imbisgraand ~jgtakatruwere the

followers of ~ah'B&a. The denunciation of the king ~jitasatruby Buddhist

texts support the fact that he had a leaning towards lainism.'

~andssextended their patronage to Jainism and this is evidenced by

a tradition that sagadsla was a minister at the court of the Ninth Nandgwho

was the father of Jaina Zcha/ya~thGlabhadra.~

According to the ~ i t h i ~ u r n inscription,

~hs ~hgravglabrought back to

Kaliliga the Jaina image which was earlier taken away by a Nanda-rsja to

~ a g a d h aThis
. ~ reveals the fad that the Jaina religion had spread to Kalihga

during the period of the and is, probably in the 4h century B.C.

The Mauryan kings like Chandragupta and Samprati patronized

Jainism under the influence of ~hadrabshuand Suhastin respectively.

According to a tradition, ~hadrab5hu along with his royal disciple

Chandragupta migrated to South India predicting a 12 year long famine. At

Sravanabelag6la,
e * .
Chandragupta observed Sal1ekhanZi.e. fast unto death, as

evidenced by the later epigraphs.'

Samprati Maurya, the grandson of ha, had contributed much for

the spread of Jainism. I t was due to his patronage that Jaina activities

became vigorous and widespread. He was the disciple of i r y a ~uhsstin.

According to Brhat-~8alpa-~u'tra-~hashya'
he made ~r;lda (hdhra), Dramila

. .
. and Kuddukka safe havens for Jaina monks.'
(~Gvida),Maharatta
 The Jaina saigha was divided into two divisions viz., ~igahbamsand
/ /
Svelambaras ~igaibaraswere naked whereas Sve6mbams wore a white

cloth.1° The monks who migrated to South India along with Bhadrabzhu

were Diga/;Ibaras. Monks who remained at Magadha under the leadership of

~thGlabhadrawere ~ve&%nbaras.In course of time puritanic (Jinakapppiya)

and the weaker (7hrakappiwa) sections might have crystallized into the

Digahbra and ive6mbaar secb respectively.

AIM AND SCOPE

An attempt is made to study, on the basis of new data, the entry of

Jainism and its spread in indhra, the Jaina centres, Jaina zcha'ryas and

Jaina Architecture and Iconography with particular emphasis on the

~ayalaGmaregion in the thesis.

Andhra Pradesh is traditionally divided into three regions viz., indhm,

Telengana and Rsyalaima. ~5~alaGma

is located in the southern most part

of the Andhra Pradesh. Riyala$ma comprises the districts of Anantapur,

Kurnool, Kadapa and Chittoor. Once these districts formed, part of the

territory of the Nizam of Hyderabad, who 'cededf them to the British in A.D.

1800 for the maintenance of their army meant for the protection of his

interests under the subsidiary system. Therefore these four districts came to

be known as "Ceded Districts". The people of this region felt hurt by the

term 'ceded' as it reminded them of the bitter fact that their region was

ceded by an alien ruler to another alien ruler. This lead to the naming of the

region as ~$~~l~$l')-la
to commemorate the rule of the Vi~ayanaga~d
kings

6
 part of Andhra Pradesh, has been unique from
over this land. ~i~ala$ma,

the early period in its religious, political, economic and cultural aspects.

Since this region comprises of hills and forests the land for cultivation was

much limited. This area is drained by the Krish?a, Tungabhadrz, ~ a n d c

pennsr, ~ h i t r k t i KundEru,
, Cheyygru, dhuda and hwarnamuki rivers.

According to a tradition, which is not beyond doubt, Chandragupta

. . .
Maurya came down to Sravanabela$la in Kamitaka with his Jain teacher

~hadrabshuan event which led to the entry of Jainism into Karnataka and

its spread to the neighbouring Telugu speaking Gyalasima region also.

Interestingly while the entire coasts1 Andhra and western part of ~ ~ a l a G m a

were the cradle of Buddhism it is the remaining part Gyala$ma that

extended patronage to Jainism over centuries. Although by the early

centuries of the Christina era Buddhism waned in indhra and R~yala$ma,

Jainism continued to survive for few more centuries. In light of this the role

played by Jainism in Rzyalasha in various fields like religion, culture, art

and architecture deserve more attention.

It is noted above that Jainism had taken firm roots in Kamataka and

the neighbouring ~zyalaimaby the early centuries of the Christian era. As a

result there has been continuous cultural interaction between these two

linguistic regions, as evidenced by the existence of number of Kannada

inscriptions in R~yalazhawhich are Jain in nature. Beautiful Jain temples

survived till today in Karnataka while many Jain vestiges, though not

temples comparable to those of Kamataka, can be seen in the ~ i ~ a l a c r n a

7
region. However, no Jain literature of the ~ ~ a l a s i mreglon
a came down to

us. The aim of the present study is to examine the spread of Jainism in

~ i ~ a l a s i mand
a the resultant Art and Architectural enrichment.

The present work also aims at studying cultural impact of Karnataka

on ~ S ~ a l a i r nasafar as Jainism is concerned. The scope of the present work

is wide enough to analyze and interpret the rich information that can be

collected from the Jain art and architecture, sculpture and epigraphs. To

make the present work more informative and substantial a comparative

study is also made where ever possible.

The sources for the present study are threefold. The primary source

material has been derived from the personal survey of all the Jaina centres

in ~'i~alaGmawhich include Konakondla, Dinavulap5du, Chippagiri,

4 .

.
. etc. The personal survey yielded rich
Rzyadurgam, Kambadir, Penugonda

information about the Jaina art and architecture. Inscriptions form the next

primary source material. As Jainism flourished well in Karnataka and in the

abutting region of ~iyala3rnaduring the period under study, as can be

expected, almost all inscriptions are in Kannada. Mary of these inscriptions

provide valuable information about ganas, anvayas, gachchas, bah'etc., and

important a2t%vas like ~undakundkh~rya.

Some of the inscriptions are in

the form of Nisidhi records. Surprisingly almost all the records are lithic and

no copper plate inscriptions are available.

 Some impottant works on Jainism in South India, Jainism in Andhra

Pradesh and others have been studied in order to understand the earlier

observations on the present subject. The pioneering and important work

Jainism in South India (1957) is penned by P. B. Desai. This work deals with

the evolution and spread of Jainism in South India with special reference to

Karnataka. Desai, being an epigraphist himself, edited many Jain epigraphs

in his work. S.Gopala Krisham Murthy in his work Jaina Vestiges in Andhra

(1963) discussed the 3aina Art, Architecture and Iconography. The next

work that deserves to be noted is Jainism in Andhra (1994) by

Jawaharlal. As in the case of Desai, Jawaharlal dealt with the spread of

Jainism in Andhra and appended some Jain epigraphs to his study. As noted

above surprisingly no Jaina literary work has come to light so far in the

RSyala$ma region, whereas in the neighbouring Karnataka the Jain

literature is abundant. The reasons for such absence in neighbouring

RSyalaGma are not convincingly known.

METHODOLOGY

As noted above, an extensive personal survey of the Jain monuments

yielded rich data for the study of the development of Jainism in the

~;~~ala$ma
region. Epigraphs, particularly the Jain, made significant

contribution for the study. The circumstances that helped the spread of

Jainism in the region under study have been examined. The data has been

classified and interpreted in such a way that the favourable conditions for

the growth of Jainism, the resultant appearance of various icons, sculptures

9
and temples which enriched the art and architecture can be explained in

detail. The various sub-sects and different Sd7gryas who enhanced the state

of the Jainism have been highlighted. In this context due attention has been

-
paid to important Jain centres like Konakondla, Da'navulap5du. The former

place became famous due to the presence of the celebrated Jain teacher

~undakundZch%ya.As noted above several Jain inscriptions are in Kannada

and it is well known that Jainism struck deep roots in Karnataka and was

active in the neighbouring linguistic region the present day ~ ~ y a l a ~ m a .

These aspects are highlighted.

ORGANISATION OF THE THESIS

The thesis is organized into six chapters. The First Chapter, which is

in the nature of Introduction, deals with the nature and sources available for

the study of Jainism in indhra with special reference to ~ i ~ a l a i m The

a.

previous work on this subject are examined, A map of f6yalasma,

showing the centres associated with Jainism, is given at the beginning of the

thesis.

The Second Chapter outlines the historical background of

Andhradesa from the earliest times to ths beginning of the Gtavahana

kingdom in general and the history of the f&yala~ma region from the

StaGhana to the Vijayanagara period in particular. The royal patronage

extended to the religion is also discussed.

 The Third Chapter discusses the beginning and growth of Jainism in

~ ~ a l a $ r nfrom
a the earliest to the 16" century A.D.

The Fourth Chapter deals with the nature and features of the caves

and structural temples of the Jains in the ~iyalasimaregion. The cave

..
temples at Konakondla, Gangapl%r, PenikalapZdu, Chippagiri, Mylavaram,

Gyadurgam, xdoni and Nagari and the structural temples located at

.
D~navulap~du,Kambadcr, Peddatumbalam, Chippagiri, Amar~puram,and

..
Penugonda are paid due attention. The Jain Iconography and Art are also

dealt with elaborately.

The Fifth Chapter deals with important Jaina centres like

..
Konakondla, ~~navula$du.The contribution of the laina jchalyas viz.,

.. ~ifnhanandinand Padmaprabha to the spread of Jainism in the

Kundakunda,

region was examined in detail. The monastic orders gachcha, anvya, babof
/
the ~@ahbaraand ~vetzmbarasects are discussed basing on the

epigraphical and Archaeological evidences.

The Sixth Chapter summarizes the results of the study. Glossary,

Bibliography and Illustrations, are appended to the Thesis. The following

tables Jaina Vestiges of Gyala$ma (Appendix -I), Jaina Teachers and

Disciples Of ~Zyalacma with their Monastic Affiliation (Appendix -II),

Iconography of ~nthahkaras(Appendix - 111) are also appended to the

thesis.
1. A. Ghosh (ed), Jaina Art and Architecture, 1975, New Delhi, p. 18-20.

2. F.R. Allchin, The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia, The

Emergence of CitLes and States,Cambridge, 1995, p. 331-340.

3. J. P. Jain, me laina Sources of the History of Ancient Idia (100 B.C.

- A.D. 900), Allahabad, 1964, pp. 33-34; A. Ghosh (ed), Op. Cit,

pp. 22-24.

4. R.C. Majurndar (ed), The Age of Impen'aJ Unik Bombay, 1980, p.

415.

5. A. Ghosh (ed), Op, QCit., p. 24.

6. Ibid

10. Ibid