The beginning of Jainism was a big revolution that brought significant changes in India's political system, religious practices, and social lives. Jainism is a minority religion today; especially in South India, the people who practice Jainism are significantly less.
In Tamil Nadu or other South Indian states, many modern-day Jain temples are built with marble stones constructed by the Gujaratis and Rajasthanis. However, it is scarce to find ancient Jain temples in Tamil Nadu. In this article, I am going to discuss one such temple.
Poondi is a small village near Arani town in the Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu. In this village, there is a Jain temple named Veeraveera Jinalayam. It is nowadays called Arugar Kovil. It was built by King Veerasamban. He was a Sambuvarayar Prince ruling the Tondai Mandalam, accepting the supremacy of the Chola empire. The temple was built in 1305 CE, as per the stone inscriptions found in the temple. The structure was built as per the Chola architectural style.
The east-facing temple has a three-tiered gopura. The sanctum with a beautiful vimana faces the east direction. It enshrines the big image of Adinath, who is also called Ponnezhilnathar. Three stone panels of Tirthankara are also placed in the sanctum. Among them, one stone panel depicts all 24 Tirthankaras. The tall flagstaff and bali peetha are found facing toward the sanctum. In Mukha mandapa, there are two icons of Jain Tirthankaras found.
Adjacent to this sanctum, there is another big east-facing shrine. It enshrines Parshvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara. He is in the standing posture with a five-hood serpent on the back. A separate flagstaff and bali peetha are found for this shrine.
There is a sub-shrine of Dharma Devi. The King who built the temple is believed to have built the sanctum and the shrines of Parshvanatha and Dharma Devi. The other sub-shrines appear to be later additions.
The Hindu deities are worshiped as Yakshis by the Jains. Hence, the Hindu deities such as Brahma, Saraswati, Ayyanar and Lakshmi are also found in this temple. Chakreswari, the attendant of Adinatha, is located in a shrine. Similarly, Padmavati, the attendant of Parshvanatha, is also found in a separate sub-shrine.
Hindus call the nine planets as Navagrahas; the Jains call them Navadevtas. They are also found in this temple.
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