The Chitharal Jain Monuments are the ruins of a Jain training centre from the 9th century CE, on a small hill in Chitharal village, Tamil Nadu.
Chitharal is historically known as Thirucharanathupalli – the abode of Jain monks belonging to the Digambara sect. It is famous for the hillock which has a cave containing rock-cut sculptures of Thirthankaras and attendant deities carved inside and outside dating back to the 9th century.Among the rock-cut relief sculptures is a figure of the goddess Dharmadevi. Jain influence in this region was due to the King Mahendravarman I (610-640).
The monuments are located in the small village of Chitharal, Tamil Nadu, which lies 7 km from Marthandam and 55 km from Kanyakumari.
A Goddess temple is situated at ‘Thiruchanattu’ hillocks. It was built 1000s of years ago, but the Jain temple was overtaken by Hindus in the 425 AD. Inside the temple stone carvings ‘thirucharanam’ was written instead of ‘thiruchanattu'. ‘Charanan’ was the name given to Jain monks. The Goddess worshiped here is ‘Thirucharanathu bhataariyar- Pathmavathi’(belief). 'Parshwanathan' and Mahavira idols are carved in the temple. The scripts written here are in ‘vatta ezhuthu’ . It is believed that the 'Vikramaditya Varagunan' the founder of the temple is the King Vikramaditya in Indian history. A script written here is about the gold ornaments offered to ‘Thricharathu bhataariyar’ by ‘Aaya gunanthangi kuratthikal’ the devotees of Arathanemi bhataariyar (Perakudi) during the 28th rulin’ year of king Vikramaditya.
ROAD MAP TO THIS PLACE
WAY TO HILLOCK-1
WAY TO HILLOCK-2
WAY TO HILLOCK-3
WAY TO HILLOCK-4
LONG SHOT VIEW of THE MONUMENT / TEMPLE
LONG SHOT VIEW - ANOTHER SIDE
LONG SHOT VIEW - FRONT SIDE
CLOSE-UP SHOT-1
CLOSE-UP SHOT-2
SIDE VIEW CLOSE-UP SHOT-1
SIDE VIEW LONG SHOT-1
SIDE VIEW CLOSE-UP SHOT-2
ANOTHER VIEW-1
PATH WAY
CHARMING CLOUDY VIEW
AT HILL TOP
HILL TOP ANOTHER VIEW
ANOTHER SIDE - VIEW
ANOTHER VIEW from HILL
HILL VIEW
STONE ART / Sculptures -1
STONE ART / Sculptures -2
STONE ART / Sculptures -3
STONE ART / Sculptures -4
STONE ART / Sculptures -5
AERIAL VIEW FROM THE HILL TOP-1
WALKING AREAS
STONE CARVED LETTERINGs of YEARS BACK
ANOTHER AERIAL VIEW-2
ANOTHER AERIAL VIEW-3
ANOTHER AERIAL VIEW-4
ANOTHER AERIAL VIEW-5
ANOTHER AERIAL VIEW-6
ANOTHER AERIAL VIEW-7
PHOTOS COURTESY :- Thiruvattar Sindhukumarji & Google
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Chitharal Jain Temple - Video
Chitharal Jain Temple - Video
To see the related post to this then click the link shown below:- (Journey experience)
