TIRUCHY: A damaged sculpture lying in neglect at a field at Dharmanathapuram in the district is actually that of a Jain Tirthankara from the later Chola period i.e. 11-12 AD, a history enthusiast in Perambalur said.
Based on information by Edward Bakkiyaraj (45), a motivational trainer and resident of Dharmanathapuram, research scholar Dr Mahatma Selvapandiyan (56) of Perambalur district visited the village and found the 65 cm x 36 cm statue in meditating posture to be that of a Jain Tirthankara (teaching god).
“The sculpture whose face and body parts are disfigured due to a lack of maintenance is placed in a part of the field. It is impossible to know which among the 24 Jain Tirthankaras it depicts as no symbols are on the sculpture," Selvapandiyan said. Mentioning the sculpture as having long ears and a prabhavali (halo) and a mukkudai (triple umbrella) over its head, Selvapandiyan said,
“A lamp placed beside it made us realise that the sculpture was worshipped occasionally. People who do not have enough awareness on it mistakenly refer to the figurine as Buddha. There is a strange custom practised here of making it lay like a turtle turned over and praying for rain." Selvapandiyan, who earned a doctorate in 2018 for his research in tribal medicine and is currently pursuing research on Jainism and Buddhism in Tamil Nadu for a book he plans to come out with, said the Tirthankara can establish the existence of a Jain temple in the region during the same period i.e. the later Chola period.
Further, a village near Dharmanathapuram by name ‘Agalanganallur’ bears the name of the famous Jain scholar, Akalanka Acharya, who lived in Kanchi in 8 AD. The village may be named after him, he said. Mentioning several other Tirthankaras, and inscriptions related to Jain temples and their grant (Palli Cantam), as having been found in Tiruchy, Selvapandiyan pointed out that the sculptures discovered from various places, including Mullikarumbur, Sangiliyandapuram, Omandur and Thathaiyangarpettai, are placed at the government museum in the district.
“Also, temple inscriptions in Lalgudi tell about Jain temples and the Tirthankara sculptures indicate that Jainism flourished in the region. Therefore, instead of taking the sculpture in Dharmanathapuram to the government museum, the authorities concerned should protect it at the site itself," he said.