Tirthankaras of Enathur, Asanellikuppam, Uppukulam ( Arakkonam ), Arumbakkam and Kavanur, Kanchipuram District, Ranipet District, Tamil Nadu.

07^th January 2018.

I was fortunate to join the Jain community Ahimsa walk scheduled on 7^th January 2018.  The places visited are on the route from Kanchipuram to Arakonam in Vellore District. The Ahimsa walk was planned to visit the heritage sites related to Jainism, where Tirthankaras statues are unearthed and installed. We know that in and around Kanchipuram Jainism flourished once.  Many Jain temples were constructed when it was in peak. After the 9th century, Jainisam started diminishing due to the rise of Saivam.

Started our journey from Chennai Adambakkam around 06.00 hrs through a van. Picked up friends on the way and reached our first stop of Enathur near Kanchipuram. In addition to us Heritage enthusiastic Jains also joined in 4 cars. Though this visit to Enathur Mahaveer temple was not planned, covered on the way to Asa Nellikuppam.

ENATHUR

This Mahaveer was unearthed near this place. Originally it was a Tirthankara and reworked on face and Mukkudai. The Simha is also added at the base of the statue. The Statue was a little eroded condition. On the top of both sides, only samaram was carved without Samaratharis. After rework the Mahaveer was installed in a newly constructed temple and Kumbhabhishekam was also performed. We are happy to worship on the 48^th day ..ie final day of mandala pooja.

ASANELLIKUPPAM.

It was said that this Tirthankara was found in a thorny bush & knee-deep sludge. It was brought to the Vinayagar temple of the village, on the previous day of our visit. After breakfast, Started our Ahimsa Walk up to the temple. Villagers also joined in the walk and Children joined at the temple. The purpose of the walk was explained to the Villagers and an interactive story was told by our Nivedita Louis, the writer and blogger. Notebooks were also distributed to the students.

The Tirthankara's Mukkudai, legs, and hands are found damaged. In this statue Samaratharis are also shown on the top of the statue, both are also damaged to some extent. It was told that the statue maybe 1000 years old.

ARUMBAKKAM.

After the visit to Asanellikuppam, we headed towards Arakkonam. In the meantime, it came to know that a Jain sculpture is kept in a Shiva Temple at Arumbakkam. After making confirmation we reached the Arumbakkam Shiva Temple.

The Tirthankara is kept under the Bodhi tree along with Nagar and Vinayagar. The Tirthankara statue is in very good condition. The Mukkudai, Thorana, and Samaratharis with their ornaments, hairstyles & dresses are clearly shown. It was learned that efforts are on to construct a separate sannidhi exclusively for this Tirthankara.

UPPUKULAM ( ARAKKONAM)

This place Uppukulam is part of Arakkonam Town. The Tirthankara statue is behind a Perumal temple with narrow access from the main road. This tirthankara is under open sky and it was learned that Arakkonam Jains worship this tirthankara. The statue is slightly eroded condition. This statue also has the Mukkudai and Samaratharis. 3 Squatting lions are shown on the base of the statue.

In front of Tirthankara, a Mantra Kal is also installed. This mantra kal is engraved with symbols on both sides. Also, it has some epigraph inscriptions, which we could not read. The purpose is not known.

KAVANUR

Reached our final stop of our Ahimsa Walk. A Parshwanath statue is kept in the Kava Narayana Perumal Temple. This statue was taken from a dilapidated temple, which is in the midst of a groundnut field. ( encroached ) The statue is in excellent condition. Parshvanath is in standing posture with 5 5-headed snake hoods. The attendants are on both sides. Visited the dilapidated temple site also. In a brief meeting at the temple, new participants were introduced and a book on Jain temples in Nadu Nadu was also presented.

It was learned that this statue was stolen and was waiting on a ship to export. Three days the ship was stranded in the port with a huge sum as demurrage and moved after the Statue was taken out of the ship.
   

We had our lunch hosted by the owner of the Balaji Bus Service. After our lunch started our return journey to Chennai. I sincerely extend my thanks to Sasikala Devi who organized this wonderful Ahimsa Walk and the participants.

---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---