The statue of the first Tirthankaras, Rishabadeva’ statue sculpted at a temple in Kanakkuvelampatti was mistaken to that of the Tamil deity Muruga, which was given clarity by a city based epigraphist.
Coimbatore: An epigraphist who came across the statue of a man standing along with two women in a Temple in Kanakkuvelampatti clarifies it to be the statue of a Tirthankaras with his two daughters. The statues were mistaken for that of Tamil Deity Muruga.
Saffronisation of Gods, temples, and villages was in practice even centuries ago in the Kongu region. According to epigraphist R Jegadisan, the real name of the village Kovilpalayam is 'Kavayanpuththur', after the aboriginal lrula chieftain 'Kavaiyan' as found in the stone inscriptions of the Kalakaleswarar Temple. However, a ‘sthala purana’ (region history) calls the village 'Kousikapuri' by weaving a tale that the place came to be called so after sage Kousika (Vishwamitra) penanced in the village. The hill shrine, Aivar Malai near Palani, which could be the correction of 'Ayirai Malai', displays the bas-reliefs of Jain ascetics on its top. However, when this correspondent went there a couple of years ago and asked a local on the images depicted in the sculptures, he simply said 'They are the pancha pandavas, (five sons of Pandufrom Mahabharatha) Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. You know, during the war in Mahabharatha, these five escaped from their enemies and hid on this mountain, and that was why it came to be called 'Ayvar' Malai.'
'Similarly, the people of Kanakkuvelampattti, a hamlet in Aravakurichi of Karur district, once came across the statue of a man with two women standing on both sides to him. They took it for Lord Muruga and his two wives, Valli and Deivanai, 'said the late D Sundaram, a city-based epigraphist, who made a trip to study on the statue at the Mottai Aandavar Temple in Kanakkuvelampatti.
'When Sukumar Poomalai, a history enthusiast from Aravakurichi informed me about the idol, l made a trip to the village and studied the sculpture. I also got my doubts cleared in a discussion with Banu Kumar, a Jain scholar from Chennai, N Ganesan, a noted Tamil scholar and archaeology enthusiast from Houston, USA, and Ramachandran, an officer (retired), from Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department.
Citing references from Sri Purana, a sacred religious text of the Jains, Sundaram says, 'As the people of the village had little knowledge in Jainism, they took the statue for Lord Muruga and his two wives Valli and Deivanai. However, the bas-relief depicts Rishabadeva, the first of the 24 Tirthankaras, and his two daughters, Sundari and Brahmi. Sripurana says that Rishabadeva taught letters to Brahmi with his right hand and numbers to Sundari with his left hand.'
The epigraphist says that Jainism encouraged women to pursue education. Silapadhikaram, a Jain literary work in Tamil by Elango Adigal portrays the character Kavunthi Adigal as a well-read woman. It may be noted that Kalaignar M.Karunanidhi-scripted Poompuhar, a 1964 Tamil film, based on the great Tamil epic Silapadhikaram, had eminent actor-singer K.B Sundarambal don the role of Kavundhi Adiigal, who performs the philosophy-rich memorable lyric Vazhkayenum Odam Vazhangukindra Paadam... in the P. Neelakantan - directed movie.
Saffronisation of Gods, temples, and villages was in practice even centuries ago in the Kongu region. According to epigraphist R Jegadisan, the real name of the village Kovilpalayam is 'Kavayanpuththur', after the aboriginal lrula chieftain 'Kavaiyan' as found in the stone inscriptions of the Kalakaleswarar Temple. However, a ‘sthala purana’ (region history) calls the village 'Kousikapuri' by weaving a tale that the place came to be called so after sage Kousika (Vishwamitra) penanced in the village. The hill shrine, Aivar Malai near Palani, which could be the correction of 'Ayirai Malai', displays the bas-reliefs of Jain ascetics on its top. However, when this correspondent went there a couple of years ago and asked a local on the images depicted in the sculptures, he simply said 'They are the pancha pandavas, (five sons of Pandufrom Mahabharatha) Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. You know, during the war in Mahabharatha, these five escaped from their enemies and hid on this mountain, and that was why it came to be called 'Ayvar' Malai.'
'Similarly, the people of Kanakkuvelampattti, a hamlet in Aravakurichi of Karur district, once came across the statue of a man with two women standing on both sides to him. They took it for Lord Muruga and his two wives, Valli and Deivanai, 'said the late D Sundaram, a city-based epigraphist, who made a trip to study on the statue at the Mottai Aandavar Temple in Kanakkuvelampatti.
'When Sukumar Poomalai, a history enthusiast from Aravakurichi informed me about the idol, l made a trip to the village and studied the sculpture. I also got my doubts cleared in a discussion with Banu Kumar, a Jain scholar from Chennai, N Ganesan, a noted Tamil scholar and archaeology enthusiast from Houston, USA, and Ramachandran, an officer (retired), from Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department.
Citing references from Sri Purana, a sacred religious text of the Jains, Sundaram says, 'As the people of the village had little knowledge in Jainism, they took the statue for Lord Muruga and his two wives Valli and Deivanai. However, the bas-relief depicts Rishabadeva, the first of the 24 Tirthankaras, and his two daughters, Sundari and Brahmi. Sripurana says that Rishabadeva taught letters to Brahmi with his right hand and numbers to Sundari with his left hand.'
The epigraphist says that Jainism encouraged women to pursue education. Silapadhikaram, a Jain literary work in Tamil by Elango Adigal portrays the character Kavunthi Adigal as a well-read woman. It may be noted that Kalaignar M.Karunanidhi-scripted Poompuhar, a 1964 Tamil film, based on the great Tamil epic Silapadhikaram, had eminent actor-singer K.B Sundarambal don the role of Kavundhi Adiigal, who performs the philosophy-rich memorable lyric Vazhkayenum Odam Vazhangukindra Paadam... in the P. Neelakantan - directed movie.