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Friday, May 13, 2016

Alangadu Jain Temple, Tirupur

Alangadu Jain Temple, Tirupur
The Alangadu Jain Temple is dedicated to Lord Adinath, the 24th Jain Thirthankar. This ancient temple enshrines an idol of Lord Adinath, along with a golden coloured idol of Lord Neminath, who is assumed to be the 22nd Thirthankar of Jains. It is one of the popular shrines belonging to the Jain community and is located in Alangadu of Tirupur District.
A Jain temple situated about 12 kms from Uthukuli, is believed to be centuries old. Though so ancient, few people seem to know of its existence. Only a handful of Jain families and some others from the neighbourhood are aware of its presence.

A family belonging to the Digambar Jain community comes all the way from Mysore to conduct a puja at the temple. They say their family has been doing it for hundreds of years. Though relatively a smaller shrine, any heritage tourist can get attracted by the aesthetically carved images of gods and goddesses on the temple pillars.
Sadly, the main idol in the temple, Chandraprabatheerthangar was stolen in the mid-1990s and it has not been recovered yet and now the temple holds only the idols of Rishabadevar and Kushmandini.