New evidence points to an 850 years old Jain temple in Telangana

Published on:

17 Jul 2016, 5:30 am

Chepyala Madhusudhan Rao, an elder in the village, brought the discovery of the inscription to the notice of the historian, Dyaavanapalli Satyanarayana recently
The inscriptions have several contexts that serve as chronicles of the history of Telangana
The inscriptions in Sanskrit and Telugu say that the temple was constructed for the 24th Jain Thirthankara- Sri Vardhamana Mahaveera

According to an article published in The Hindu, some farmers of Mallaram in Karimnagar district found a three-faced stone inscription as they were clearing shrubs to reclaim land. That was 8 years back. Chepyala Madhusudhan Rao, an elder in the village, brought it to the notice of the historian, Dyaavanapalli Satyanarayana recently and thus its importance was recognised.

According to the findings that have been revealed now, here are some interesting facts:

Mr. Satyanarayana says that he had corroborated its content with facts in contemporary historical texts and thought it was fit to reveal the findings.
The inscriptions have several contexts that serve as chronicles of the history of Telangana, opines the historian to the Hindu.
The inscriptions indicate that Mallaram of Malhar mandal in Karimnagar district was the last Jain temple in the region, also pointing out the patronage of the religion to date back to 850 years.

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The inscriptions in Sanskrit and Telugu say that the temple was constructed for the 24th Jain Thirthankara- Sri Vardhamana Mahaveera- by Manikya Setti and also how the whole revenue of an entire village called Muppayapalli was donated by Bhaktula Pochenayudu for its maintenance.
Then it demarcates a line for the disappearance of Jainism and being replaced by a new religious sect called 'Veera Saivism' here.

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The stone inscription found at Mallaram village in Karimnagar district. Image Source: The Hindu

The predominance of the Setti community (Komati today) among the Jains of those days was also mentioned.

Inscription indicates that women were valued in those days. Giri Devasani, a lady mentioned in the inscriptions, is said to have succeeded her father Doddalasiddhi Setti as the chief priest of the Parshavanatha temple. Her sculpture has been found, in addition to the Kakatiya symbols of the ox and the sun-moon on all four sides of the stone.