Origin of Jainism in Tamil Nadu
Some scholars believe that Jain philosophy must have entered South India some time in 6th century B.C. Literary sources and inscription state that Bhadrabahu came over to Shravanabelagola with a 12000-strong retinue of Jain sages when north India found it hard to negotiate with the 12 year long famine in the reign of Chandragupta Maurya. Even Chandragupta accompanied this constellation of sages. On reaching Shravanabelagola, Bhadrabahu felt his end approaching and decided stay back along with Chandragupta and he instructed the Jain saints to tour over the Chola and Pandiya domains.
According to other scholars, Jainism must have existed in south India well before the visit of Bhadrabhu and Chandragupta. There are plenty of caves as old as 4th century CE are found with Jain inscriptions and Jain deities around Madurai, Trichy, Kanyakumari, Tanjavur.
A number of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been found in Tamil Nadu that date from the second century BCE. They are regarded to be associated with Jain monks and lay devotees.
Read more about this topic: Tamil Jain
Famous quotes containing the words origin of and/or origin:
“In the woods in a winter afternoon one will see as readily the origin of the stained glass window, with which Gothic cathedrals are adorned, in the colors of the western sky seen through the bare and crossing branches of the forest.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed,—a, to me, equally mysterious origin for it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)