ADVENT OF JAINISM AND
BUDDHISM
Padmakumari Amma. B “Jain-buddhist centres in the early history of Kerala”
Thesis. Department of History , University of Calicut, 1995
CHAPTER
ADVENT
OF
JAINXSM
THREE
PCND
BUt>r>HXSm
ADVENT
OF
JAINISM
AND
6UDDHISPl
Kerala which lies at the Southern most
of
part
India is distinguished from the other parts
the
sub-continent
features.
eastern
The
side
neighbouring
by
long
its
peculiar
range of
geographical
mountains
of the State separates it
States
of Tamilnadu
of
and
on
the
from
the
Karnataka.
A very long sea-shore is another important feature.
It
has
allowed
adventurous foreign
traders
and
travellers to Kerala. These features have helped in
controlling the migration of people and to maintain
its own unique identity by
developing its own way
of life.
Jainism and Buddhism which were
in
bringing about a lot of changes in
life
the
and the culture of India had their
upon Kerala also.
These religions once
in certain small pockets here.
are
instrumental
available here.
social
influence
flourished
Only a few remnants
One may even be led
to
the
conclusion
that they never existed here.
Only
thoroughgoing enquiry into the available
can enable us to
a
evidences
make them a part of history.
A. JAINISM.
There is no clear cut evidence to show
and
where
the
Jains
reached
Kerala
when
first.
Bhadrabahu Chandra Gupta tradition says that
reached
gained
Karnataka
by 3rd century
the royal benevolence of
and Raehtrakutas.
patronage
to
B.C.
Jains
Jainism
Gangas,
Kadambas
The Calukyas of Badami also gave
them.'
Thus
favourite resort of Jainism.
must
have
also
in course of time.
1.
Jainism in South
Karnataka
became
Jains from
naturally spread to the
India,
op.
the
Karnataka
Kerala
region
cit.
p.26.
2.
P. N-Narasiqha Murthy, Jainism on the Canara
Coast, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of
Mysore, 1 9 8 3 . pp. 32-44.
The
Wynad route, which connects Kerala
Karnataka,
was
influential
in
changes in the life of Kerala.
Balgola
pass.
could have reached
They
Kinalur
about
settled
at
bringing
Jains from
the
begnning
about
Sravana
Kerala
through
Talakkavu,
in
and Tiruvannur in Kozhikode
of the
8th
with
this
Uynad,
District,
century
of
by
the
Christian era.
There
Nadu.
and
were
in
Tamil
Kanchipuram was a great centre of the
Jains
Buddhists
Tsang.
were
famous Jain
centres
by the time of the
visit
Anamalai , Kazhukumalai and
great
Jain centres.
Jainism
of
Sittannavasal
was
able
exert considerable influence over the people
the able leadership of Kundakundacharya.
kings
Huan
to
under
several
had adopted the Jain faith and promoted
its
propagation in Tamil Madu.
3.
Nilakanta Sastri K.A.
Proceedin~s and
churang."
. Sixth All India Conference.
4. Kundakundacarya
A.N. Upadhye, p. 12.
yuan
"Malakuta of
transactions of the
Patna, 1930. pp. 202.
Pravacanasara,
(Ed).
t h e a n c i e n t d a y s , K e r a l a remained a
In
of
Tamilakam.
The d y n a s t i e s o f
Pandya r u l e d o v e r Tamilakam.
their
boundaries
helped
their
at
one
e a s t e r n s i d e of K e r a l a e n a b l e d
north
passes
operation
Sahya
among
mountains
provided t h e
.
passes
people
the
sides
The J a i n s e t t e l e m e n t o f
main
for
co-
of
the
-A l a t t 3 r
i n P a l a k k a d d i s t r i c t must h a v e b e e n c o n n e c t e d
those
in
region.
There
were
also
t h r o u g h Kumali and D5viku)am w h i c h
routes
the
Kongu
people together.
changes
which
These helped t o
affected
Tamil
to
Palakkad i n
opportunity
T a m i l i a n s on b o t h
It
exchange
Aruvamozhi i n t h e s o u t h a r e
which
extend
The m o u n t a i n
t r a v e l b e t w e e n T a m i l Nadu a n d K e r a l a .
the
and
another.
come c l o s e r a n d t o
customs and t r a d i t i o n s .
the
Cola
They t r i e d t o
by d e f e a t i n g
t h e people t o
Cera,
part
Nadu
with
other
brought
spread
the
and
to
communicate t h e i d e o l o g i e s t h a t d e v e l o p e d t h e r e
to
Kerala.
I t is p o s s i b l e t h a t J a i n i s m s p r e a d t o K e r a l a
from
T a m i l n a d u t h r o u g h Kumali and Dgvikulam
Yt
also.
The Kallil temple of Perumpavoor in central
Kerala
is an example of such settlement in Kerala.
Kallil
could
have
been the connecting link
between
the
people of TamilNadu and Kodungalloor which was
the
capital of the Mahodaya Ceras.
Another
Aruvamozhi
route to Kerala from Tamil Nadu
pass.
Citaral,
in
the
Vilavankode in the District of present
was
a
very big Jain monastery.
Aruvamozhi
Inscriptional
that
the
evidences
It
Jains
Taluk
was
of
Kanyakumari
was
through
reached
here.
are there to
show
that
this centre was in touch with other Jain centres of
South India.
In brief, we may say that
Jainism
5. On a stone lying near the Ayyanar Temple in the
Sub- Regstrar's office compound at Kazhukumalai,
there is an inscriprion having the reference of
Tirucc3ranattumalai.
"8ri k6tfGr nzttu ,ciru 1 tali cafaiyan kot-fiyai,
ccZrtti tirucc~ranattukku~attikal
ceyvitta pa;imamw
S.I.I.vo1. V, Archaeological
Mysore, 1986. p.123.
Survey
of
India,
See also
-
i
kS$turna$tu perumparrur kuttankzmafici
tiruccgranattu k k ~ ~ a t t i k a ceyta
lpaf imam*'.
A.R. no. 37 of 1894. Ibid. p.123.
catti
came
t o K e r a l a from t h e s t a t e s of
Tamil
Nadu
served
since
through
the
mountain
as
trade routes.
This
the
J a i n s and t h e
Buddhists
trading
communities
centre
to
is
Karnataka
passes
the
which
understandable
were
which s p r e a d from
another along with
and
largely
one
trade
expansion
of
trade. 6
C o o r g , which i s s i t u a t e d a t t h e N o r t h e a s t e r n
b o r d e r of K e r a l a , had b e e n a n c i e n t s e a t of J a i n i s m .
Tradition
maintains
Samprati,
t h e g r a n d s o n of Asoka who had
Ujjain
Jain
and
that the
the
monks i n M a h a r a s h t r a , S o u r a s h t r a , Andhra
and
J a i n i s m was f o r a l o n g t i m e t h e
favourite
T h e r e i s e v e r y c h a n c e of
s p r e a d of t h i s r e l i g i o n from Coorg t o
i n due
of
conquered
Deccan opened up new a v e n u e s
r e l i g i o n of t h i s r e g i o n .
Kerala
course.
6 . Moti C h a n d r a , S a r t h a v a h a
7.
zeal
for
COOP^.^
the
religious
, New D e l h i , 1 9 8 6 .
J a i n i s m on t h e Kanara C o a s t , o p .
cit.p.
37.
B. BUDDHISM.
Buddhism had spread in Tamil Nadu around the
3rd century B.C 8 .
Keralaputo
as
Asoka refers to Cola, Pandya
Pratyanta rajyas.
Buddhists
and
from
Magadha might have reached South India, and entered
Tamilnadu
at
least
by
According
to
Mahavamsa,
the
3rd
B.C.
century
Buddhism
had
gained
prominence in the island of Sri Lanka by the end of
the
3rd
century
Devanampiya
Buddhism
Tissa.
B.C.
during
S o it can
the
be
reign
inferred
might have spread to Tamil Nadu
of
that
earlier,
since it was the possible land route to Sri
Lanka,
unless it travelled exclusively by the sea route.
Sri
sub
Lanka which lies on the south of
continent had been in constant
Indian
contact
8.Dr, Shu Hikosaka, Buddhism in Tamil Nadu
Perspective, Madras. 1989, p.4.
A
with
New
9.
Romila Thapar, Asoka and the Decline of the
Mauryas, (1992) p. 251, 256. Asoka 13th Sasana and
9th line.
L
main land. lo The people of Sri Lanka who were well
-
versed in navigation maintained close relation with
the
people of the mainland
traders
shores
from
of
religion
Sri
established
in
trade.
Lanka might have
Kerala also and brought
through
B.C.
through
the
sea
come
Mahavamsa
the
Buddhist
Jainism
Sri Lanka around the
itself.
to
the
route.
These
4th
was
century
describes
the
administrative reforms which had taken place in Sri
Lanka
century
during
to
during the reign of PZcdukSbhaya around
B.C.
The Jains had been
so
well-settled
those days that the Ajivaka sect
construct
the
t empl e
4th
was
able
..
PZnduklbhaya
called
temple.11
Buddhism gained prominence in
later
reign
by the
of
island
end of 3rd century B.C., during
DZvZnZmpiya
PZpdukZbhaya.
the
Thus
it
Tissa,
can
be
the
grandson
seen
10.
See for details. K.K.Pillay, South
Sri Lanka, p . 2.
that
India
11. Mahavamsa tika, (Ed) Shreedhar Vasudev
Navanaland nahavigara 1971. pp. 241,258.
the
of
the
and
Sohini.
r e l i g i o n s of J a i n i s m a n d Buddhism w e r e e s t a b l i s h e d
at
S r i Lanaka i n t h e v e r y a n c i e n t p e r i o d a n d t h a t
it
provided with t h e opportunity f o r
to
K e r a l a l a t e r , t h r o u g h t h e p e o p l e who came
t h e i r spread
from
there.
There
appears
through
of Buddhism on
from T a m i l Nadu o r K a r n a t a k a t o
land route
It
r e m a i n s no p r o o f
that
the
the sea.
I t is
Buddhists
came
to
any
Kerala.
Kerala
c l e a r from t h e f a c t
that
t h e r e m n a n t s of Buddhism h a v e b e e n found o n l y a l o n g
the
sea-shore
Buddhists
and
could
in
reach
indicates
that
w e r e from
Ezham o r
those
places
through
where
the
sailing.
t h e B u d d h i s t s who came
to
This
Kerala
Ceylon, e s p e c i a l l y s i n c e t h e r e
is a c o n s i d e r a b l e p o p u l a t i o n of E z h a v a s i n K e r a l a .
Most of t h e B u d d h i s t s and J a i n s w e r e t r a d e r s .
Their
business
exteneively.
i n t e r e s t a l s o l e d them
to
travel
W h i l e t h e B u d d h i s t s s e t t l e d down
in
t h e t r a d e c e n t r e s of Kollam, A l a p p u z h n a n d Kottayam
districts,
t h e J a i n s spread over along t h e
routes
of land trade.
No Buddhist images have been
in those districts where Jainism was
a
.
about the "Palliblna PerumZl" found
KGralZlpatti
about
prevalent.The
..
traditions
found
might contain some
historical
king who showed leanings to
one
in
truth
or
the
other of these non-Vedic creeds. The association of
the
name
of Vijayaraga with a shrine
Ki$ilGr
in
(KupavZynall3r) where a Jain centre flourished
be
related
detailed
to
or
this episode,
but
there
concrete evidence-From
the
Varagu~a's Paliyam plates containing the
of
--
land to ~ r i m G l a v s s aVihara and the
references
Vihara
to
Valabha's
are
-Ay
been
like the Ays
more sympathetic than
king
Husikavamsa
of
the
and the
the
no
donation
we may justly infer that some of the
chieftains of Kerala
had
patronage
may
same
minor
Miishakas
Perumals
to
these creeds in early times 1 2 .
Thus
of
Jain
we may conclude that it was the
centres
proliferation
in
Karnataka
that
to their northern parts
growth.
led
of
to
Kerala,
12. See Appendix. I- F and
11-C.
and similarly it was the growth of such centres
Tamil
Nadu
outposts
While
which
led to
the
creation
of
in central and southern parts of
the
spread
of
Jainism
was
in
Jain
Kerala.
accomplished
through the land routes of trade along the mountain
passes, the spread of Buddhism was the byproduct of
sea trade with Sri Lanka. In both cases the trading
groups who brought them to Kerala were attracted by
the
prosper-ity of the land achieved
through
the
rise of agrarian corporations established by
Aryan
Brahmin
along
immigrants who came from the North,
the Western Coastal route. There was apparently
great
conflict between the unorthodox
creeds
the Vedic Brahmin creed in Kerala since the
did not pose any threat to the latter, but
as
minority
some
religions enjoying the
of the Brahminised rulers on a
and
former
existed
patronage
smallscale
They never rose to positions of great political
economic power and they gradually dwindled in
and
no
strength, when the Brahmin settlements
of
.
or
size
became
increasingly self sufficient in course of time.