Namma Madurai: History hidden inside a cave
- The Hindu RELICS OF JAINS: Bas-relief sculptures. Photo:R. Ashok
- The Hindu RELICS OF JAINS: Bas-relief sculptures. Photo: R. Ashok
- The Hindu RELICS OF JAINS: View of the cave. Photo :R. Ashok
Deciphering the upside-down letters engraved in the Keelavalavu Jain cave
The otherwise serene village of Keelavalavu is often in
the news for the wrong reasons, usually simmering caste fanaticism and
granite quarrying.
Somehow, the village has managed to preserve the Jain beds that testify to its association with a 2500-year-old religion.
A
left turn on the Tirupathur road from Madurai leaves you on a country
road that in turn leads to the Jain caves, once the abode of monks and a
residential school that dates back to the 2nd century BC.
Neatly cut steps on the hillock make climbing easy.
And
the natural cave with uniformly designed rock beds and sculptures of
Jain monks has withstood the ravages of time. But now, this
2000-year-old monument faces a threat from mammoth cranes and dynamites.
Though the Archaeological Survey of India is
maintaining the monument, the ongoing quarry work in nearby places is
certainly posing a threat to the structure, evidence of the rich culture
and tradition of a bygone era.
Keelavalavu cave is one of the earliest Jain caves found in and around Madurai.
The other caves belonging to the same period are at Mangulam, Arittapatti, Thiruvadavur and Varichiyur.
The
cave has a drip-ledge on the brows that keeps rainwater out. On the
brow, there are deeply cut rectangular holes that provided space for
erecting thatched sheds whenever necessary.
One unique feature of the Keelavalavu cave is the presence of Tamil Brahmi letters which are upside down.
The inscription says that ‘a person hailing from Thondi made these
beds.’ “Similar upside-down message is found written at Kundrakudi
beds,” says C. Santhalingam, retired archaeological officer. “These
letters are deciphered using a mirror.”
Painted sculptures
In
total there are nine sculptures in the cave belonging to 9th and 10th
century AD: three in the centre and six on the left side.
The
24th Thirthankara Mahavir is sculpted in a sitting posture
(Arthapariyanga asana) and Parsuvanathar is in a standing posture
(Kayothsarga asana). There is a sculpture of Bagubali, also known as
Gomatheeswarar.
Green, red, yellow and black paint
colours the sculptures, and the fresco technique has been used. “Bas
relief sculptures are covered with well-ground lime coating. Paintings
are drawn on the coating before getting dried,” says Santhalingam.
“These features indicate that Jainism flourished in the 9th and 10th century AD in these areas,” says Santhalingam.
According
to Madurai Mavatta Tholiyal Kaiyedu, the Vattezhuthu inscription found
here reads that one Sankaran Sri Vallabhan made one of the sculptures,
donated 50 goats for lighting a perpetual lamp and served food offerings
while performing pujas at the cave.
“The hillock also has some geometrical shapes drawn with red ochre,” says Santhalingam.
“These paintings indicate that the hill might have been a residential area of ancient tribes.”
The
other part of the hillock has a 10th century Vattezhuthu inscription
referring to Sri Katti and Sri Kaalan Aratti and the grinding stones
(kal ural) donated by them.
The Keelavalavu cave
lies on the Chola–Pandya trade route. The connecting trade route is
Alagarmalai, Mangulam, Arittapatti, Keelavalavu and Kundrakudi.
Melavalavu
Perhaps
it is not wrong to refer to Melavalavu as Keelavalau’s twin village.
Though Melavalavu does not possess Jain caves, it, too, has some
remnants from the past.
Nestled between rocky
hillocks named Somagiri malai and Muri malai, encompassing Parambu
kanmai flecked with storks, the water body that gave the village its
ancient name, Melavalavu looks heavenly.
An
inscription (dated 1238–1239) found at a sluice narrates that during the
regime of Later Pandya king Maravarman Sundarapandian I (1216-1238), a
person named Alwaan Sakkarakaiyan hailing from Kovur worked on raising
the bund of the water body. It also reads that the village was known as
‘Parambu alias Narayana Mangalam.’ Another inscription (15th century)
dating to the regime of Vijayanagara king Virupaacharayar also confirms
the name of the village as ‘Parambu alias Thiru Narayana Mangalam.’
Santhalingam
says, “The village was so famous that those days the geographical
locations for other villages were marked with the tag ‘parapu’ like
‘vadaparapu naadu’ and ‘thenparapu naadu.”
Keywords: Keelavalavu Jain cave
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