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Concept
Jainism in Kerala
Summary
Jainism, one of the three most ancient Indian religious traditions still in existence, has very small presence (0.01%) in Kerala, in south India. According to the 2011 India Census, Kerala only has around 4500 Jains, most of them in the city of Cochin , Calicut and in Wayanad district.
Medieval Jain inscriptions are mostly found on the borders of Kerala proper, such as in Wayanad in the north-east, Alathur in the Palghat Gap and Chitharal in Kanyakumari District. Epigraphical evidence suggests that the shrine at "Tirukkunavay", perhaps located near Cochin, was the major Jain temple in medieval Kerala (from c. 9th century CE). The so-called "Rules of the Tirukkunavay Temple" provided model and precedent for all other Jain temples of Kerala.
Some of the Jain temples in Kerala were incorporated by the Hindus at a later stage. The temple images are worshiped as Hindu gods and considered as part of the Hindu pantheon. It is not uncommon for Hindus and Jains to worship their deities in the same temple.
It is possibility that Jainism arrived in modern-day Kerala in the third century BCE soon after Maurya emperor Chandragupta Maurya (died c. 297 BCE), accompanied by Jain sage Bhadrabahu I, made the pilgrimage to Sravana Belgola (in present-day Karnataka). Their followers might have journeyed further south, into present day Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
A number of caves, donated by the early historic Chera chieftains to the Jains, can be found in the Karur-Pugaliyur region of western Tamil Nadu. Utiyan Cheral Atal, a Chera chieftain, is stated to have (Akam 55, Puram 65 and 66) died by starvation through a practice (the vattakku-irikkal) similar to the Jain sallekhana vrata. Utiyan Cheral was wounded on the back by his Chola rival Karikala in a battle.
Ilamko Atikal, who is traditionally credited as the author of the Tamil epic Chilappatikaram, was probably a resident of a Jain vihara known as "Kunavayir kottam". Some scholars identify Kunavayir kottam with Tirukkunavay[il] or Trikkana Matilakam, now known as Matilakam, a village near Cochin.
Official source
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