Kalugumalai Jain Complex, Kalugumalai, Thoothukudi – Architecture
Jaina
settlements came into being in the Tamil country around Madurai in the 3rd
century B.C. with the arrival of monks from the north. Pandya kings and
merchant guilds patronized these monks. In the 7th century A.D., with the rise
of the Bhakti Movement led by Saivite saints such as Tirunavukkarasar and
Tirugnanasambandar, Jainism suffered a setback in the region. It also lost
royal patronage with the Pandya king Kun Pandyan and the Pallava ruler
Mahendravarman embracing Saivism.
However,
there was a revival of Jainism in the Tamil country after the 8th century A.D. Kazhugumalai
was an active centre of Jaina learning for 300 years from the 8th century A.D.
It was a place of worship, a monastery and a college. Jains from Tirucharanam
and Kottaru (both in present-day Kanyakumari district in Tamilnadu) came to
Kazhugumalai to teach and learn. There were women teachers also here.” The male
teacher was called “kuravar” and the female teacher “kurathi”. The inscriptions
here give the names of a number of kurathis. Monks were also called
Bhatarar. Nuns called kurathis came to Kazhugumalai from different
Jaina centres such as Thirunarungondai, Tirucharanam, Tirukottaru and
Thirumalai in the Tamil country.
From a
non-theistic religion, where monks lived in natural caverns, it became a
theistic religion, absorbing rituals on the way. Several structural Jaina
temples came up during this time. There were more than 100 Jaina sites in the
Pandya country (comprising the present-day districts of Madurai, Virudhunagar,
Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Kanyakumari in southern
Tamil Nadu).
The most
notable among these were the sites at Madurai, Kazhugumalai, Kurandi (near
Aruppukkottai) and Nagercoil (Kottaru). It is not true that Jainism was rooted
out of Tamil Nadu after the 7th century A.D. A good example of the revival of
Jainism in the Tamil country after the 8th century is Kazhugumalai.
Jain
Complex is located in Kalugumalai, a rocky hill in Thoothukudi district in southern Tamilnadu. The sculptures and the carvings are indicative of
Pandyan art during the period. The granite rock looks like a blooming
lotus, with hills surrounding it on three sides. There are approximately 150
niches in the Complex that includes images of Gomateshwara, Parshvanatha and other Tirthankaras of the Jainism.
The
statues were of Lord Parshwanatha flanked by two Yakshas and this
itself is surrounded by statues of many Thirthankaras. There is also
a temple right beside these Jain statues called Araimalai Alwar.
On the rock
surface, frozen in time, was a superbly sculpted Jaina Tirthankara seated in
the ardhapariyankasana pose on a lion pedestal, with a triple umbrella
above his head.
The
sculpted panel also had two fish-headed makaras, with a warrior coming
forth from the mouth of each. Other warriors, on horseback, were there to see
the great soul attain enlightenment. On top were the carvings of Surya and
Chandra, and Indra on his elephant Airavatham. Every image in this sculpture is
rich in details. “Every figure is richly carved while the Tirthankara himself
looks so plain. This is a sculpture of unsurpassed beauty.
On top
of the Kazhugumalai hills is an Ayyanar temple, which is about a hundred years
old. The temple obscures some of the bas–reliefs behind it. The sanctum
sanctorum of the temple is inside a natural cavern. As the priest lit a lamp to
show us the roof of the dark cavern, three bas-reliefs of Tirthankaras came
into view near the Ayyanar image.
Two of
them sat side by side and the third was a few feet away. They were seated
in ardhapariyankasana, under a triple umbrella. It is difficult to say
whether these Jaina carvings have been documented.
A
bas-relief of remarkable beauty in Kazhugumalai depicts the legend of
the yakshi Ambika. The sculpture shows a tall and elegant Ambika,
with her two children and her husband, a Simha (a lion) and a “Kalpavriksha”.
The husband seems to be in a state of sheer awe, for one of his hands is raised
in a state of shock.
Legend
has it that Ambika violated a religious canon by giving away food she had
cooked for her Pitrus (ancestors) on a day of remembrance. When her
relatives who had come to take part in the ceremony had gone out, a Jaina monk
came to her house seeking food.
When the
relatives returned home and found that she had given away the food to the monk,
they were enraged with her and drove her out. She sought out the monk and asked
him to help. He pleaded helplessness and suggested that she go back to her
husband. Scared of her husband’s wrath, Ambika, committed suicide. She reached
heaven and became an attendant, that is, a yakshi, of Tirthankara
Neminatha.
But
Ambika was unable to forget her past and Indra granted her a boon that she
could return to earth and lives with her husband while at the same time being
a yakshi. Back home, her husband demanded that she show him her “golden
appearance” to prove she was a yakshi.
When
Ambika revealed her true self, the husband was taken aback by the dazzling
halo. That is why his hand, in the sculpture, is raised and the face, with the
glare, perhaps, is not deliberately sculpted. There are sculptures of
the yakshi Ambika at Sitharal (near Nagercoil), Anai Malai and Samana
Malai (both near Madurai) and Thirumalai. But this one at Kazhugumalai is the
masterpiece.
Another
masterpiece is the sculpture of Bahubali (Gomatesvara) standing in meditation
in a forest, with creepers entwining his legs, and his sisters Brahmi and
Sundari telling him to shed his ego. Bahubali was one of the two sons of the
first Tirthankara, Adinatha. (Bahubali himself is not a Tirtankara).
Adinatha
split his kingdom between his two sons, Bahubali and Bharatha, before
renouncing the world. A conflict between the two brought their armies against
each other. But not wanting lives to be lost, Bahubali and Bharatha decided to
settle it between themselves.
Bahubali
won two of the three combats but when he was about to kill his brother in the
third, he had a change of heart. He renounced everything. He went to the forest
to meditate, but was not able to shed his ego. So Adinatha sent his two
daughters, who told him to “get rid of the elephant in his head”.
A third
carving depicts the story of the Tirthankara Parsvanatha – with snake hoods
over his head, Kamdan throwing a huge piece of rock to kill him, the Yaksha Dharnendra
protecting him, and finally Kamdan surrendering to him. Yakshi Padmavathi is
also seen. The panel of standing Parsvanatha with the snake hoods over his head
is a gem of early Pandya art.
The area
is known for the Jain cave temple and architecture. There are a number of Jain
images with labels in Vattezhuttu script. There are many relief
sculptures dating to the 8th-9th century A.D. in the area, including the rock
cut image of Bhagawan Parshwanatha flanked by
two Yaksha, as well as many other rock cut images of
other tirthankaras.
