New 12th Century’s Jain Inscription Explored at Hubli

• A 12th century inscription explored along the pedestal of a Choubis Tirthankar idol with
  Adinath Tirthankar as the main deity.
• Inscription’s Summary – A woman called Padumasiriyave, a disciple of Yapaniya Sangha’s Vrukamula Gana got an idol of Chavvisa (24) Tirthankara made and donated it to
  Sugandhavartiya’s Nagara Jinalaya Basadi belonging to Yapaniya Sangha’s Kareya Gana after performing the Anati Nompi followed by Udhyapane.
• Explored based on the details received from His Holiness SwastiSri Dr. Deevendrakerthi Bhattarakha Swamiji of Hombuja Jain Math at Late Sri Mahavir Suji’s house.
• Explored by Dr. Ravikumar K Navalagunda of Harihara during his field work.

Hubli (Dharwad District, Karnataka), 8^th August 2022: A new 12^th century’s 6 lines Jain inscription has been explored along the pedestal of a Jain Tirthankar idol at Hubli. This has been explored by Dr. Ravikumar K Navalagunda, an epigraphic researcher who visited Hubli on a field visit based on the details received from His Holiness SwastiSri Dr. Deevendrakerthi Bhattaraka Swamiji of Hombuja Jain Math. An idol with the inscription has been explored at the house of Amar Mahavir Suji son of Late Mahavir Suji, a leading businessman residing at Deshpande Nagar, Hubli. This idol made of black marble stone is 11 inches wide and 9 inches high. The 6 lines inscription is found along the idol’s pedestal and has 11^th-12^th century text. Though the inscription is worn out the main details about the idol’s installation are available. Since this inscription hasn’t been reported or documented this is a new inscription.

Inscription’s Summary – A woman called Padumasiriyave, a disciple of Yapaniya Sangha’s Vrukamula Gana got an idol of Chavvisa (24) Tirthankara made and donated it to Sugandhavartiya’s Nagara Jinalaya Basadi belonging to Yapaniya Sangha’s Kareya Gana after performing the Anati Nompi followed by Udhyapane.

Nompi – The word Nompi means a vow. The Shravakas – householders of Jainism with an intent of punishing their body or to fulfill their mental desires within the religious framework follow a set of rituals are they are termed as Nompi. There are thousands of Nompis in Jainism. Of these Aanathi or Ananthi or Anathi is one such Nompi.

Udyapane – The systematic practice of these Nompis for several months or years and the process of concluding them is called as Udyapane.

In memory of the people who performed this Nompi we see the practice of donating an idol to a nearby Jinalaya. Usually, these are 24 Tirthankar idols. Padumarasiyavve,the lady mentioned in this inscription has donated an idol of 24 Tirthanakars. Of the 24 Tirthankaras, we can only see 5 idols the other 19 idols are not seen here.

Sugandhavarthi – The word Sugandhavarthi used in this inscription is a Sanskritised version of the name of a place. Its original name is Savanadatthi. It is none other than the present day’s Soudatti or Saundatti, a town in the present Belagavi/Belgaum district of Karnataka. Here the word Savana means a Jina Muni or a Jain Monk. The place given as a Datti donation to the Savanasby the Rashtrakutas later on came to be known as Savanadatti or Saundatti or Saudatti. Saudatti was a major Jain centre during the 11^th century A.D. This region was ruled by the Rattas during this period with Saudatti as their capital. They are popularly called as “Saudatti Rattas” in the history books. When we carefully observe the inscriptions of Saudatti it is evident that these Rattas built a ”Patta Jinalaya – main Jain temple”. Epigraphic evidence indicates that in addition to the Patta Jinalaya there existed many other Jinalayas at Saudatti. Of the many Jinalayas that existed at Saudatti the Nagara Jinalaya mentioned in the inscription could be one of those.

Yapaniya – Yapaniya is one among the three important ascetic order in Jainism. Yapaniya is a link between the Nirgrantha (Digambar) Mahashramana Sangha and Shwethapata (Shwethambar) Mahashramana Sangha. This ascetic order originated in Karnataka in 148 A.D. It was founded by a Jaina monk called Srikalasha at Kalyana. This ascetic order grew well in the successive centuries and later merged with the Mulasangha (Digambar).

Gana – Yapaniya is a sect of Jainism that originated with a specific Jaina philosophical tradition. The group of ascetics who followed the philosophy of this order were said to be belonging to Yapaniya Sangha. ‘Gana’ is the subdivision of a sangha. Each Gana was headed by a Jaina Acharya. Ganas are further divided into Gachha, Gachhas were divided into Balis and Balis into Anvaya. All these were group of the Munis, and is seen that they were formed to meet their convenience to move around during Vihara. Sangha–Gana-­Gachha­–Bali-­Anvaya had different set of followers. In this inscription the woman Padumarasiyavve was a disciple o Vrukamula Gana.

a disciple of Yapaniya Sangha’s Vrukamula Gana got an idol of Chavvisa (24) Tirthankara made and donated it to Sugandhavartiya’s Nagara Jinalaya Basadi Yapaniya Sangha’s Kareya Gana got the idol made and donated it to Nagara Jinalaya Basadi that belonged to Yapaniya Sangha’s Kareya Gana.

Background to how the idol came to Suji Family’s House – Muni 108 Sri Payasagarji Maharaj was a big name during the latter half of the 20^th century and originated from the Belagavi district of Northern Karnataka. In addition to the propagation of Jainism, he is also well known for restoring many Jain temples and antiques. He happened to undertake one of his chaturmas at Hubli. During that period, he happens to hand over this idol that came to him from unknown sources to Sri Nemirajappa Kenchappa Suji father of Sri Mahavir Suji, and tells them to keep it at their home and perform a daily pooja. Since then, this family has been performing daily pooja to this idol for the past 70-80 years.

The researcher Dr. Ravikumar K Navalagunda has thanked wholeheartedly His Holiness SwastiSri Dr. Deevendrakeerthi Bhattarakha Swamiji, the pontiff of Hombuja Jain Math; Late Sri Mahavir Suji; Smt Pankaja Suji; Sri Amar Suji, and Dr. Nagaraj K Navalagunda.

– Jain Heritage Centres News Service