Tirupur: A 1,100-year-old Jain temple at Alathur near Avinashi has been crying for attention - most of its structures are in a dilapidated condition and might collapse at any time, leaving no sign that such a monument existed there.
Villagers are, however, in no mood to let the Veerasangathaperumpalli temple perish due to official apathy. They have urged the state government to take immediate steps to restore the temple, the sanctum sanctorum and mun mandapam of which had completely collapsed over the past few decades.
The only structure standing in its all glory is artha mandapam. But this too might collapse at any time. “So, the government should restore the temple immediately,” said S Ravikumar, team director of Virarajendran archaeological and historical research centre.
The state archaeological department, which has preserved the temple’s deity and a few important inscriptions, said restoration of the temple was under consideration.
Presently, majority of the state’s population may be followers of Vaishnavism and Shaivism. But according to historical references, the connection between Jain principles and this part of subcontinent could be at least two thousand years old.
For archaeologists, Veerasangathaperumpalli is one of the precious Jain monuments in the state. It is to be noted that at the temple worshipping practices might have been stopped several centuries ago.
When TOI visited the temple, which was surrounded by thick vegetation, its structures were found to be in a too bad condition that it could fall apart at any time. Area next to the sanctum sanctorum is now utilised as a cow barn.
“The temple is believed to have been established in an ancient trade route by Jain community people at least 1,100 years ago. According to historical researches, at that time this place had been ruled under Vadaparisara Nadu, which was one of twenty parts of North Kongu region. So far, seven inscriptions have been found in the temple,” Ravikumar told TOI.
While three of the seven scripts seem to date back to the 10th century as they feature Tamil Vatteluttu alphabet, another three written in Tamil seem to date back to 13th and 14th centuries. The remaining inscription was written in ancient Telugu, he said.
“One of the Tamil Vatteluttu inscriptions refer to a donation given during 970AD, when Kongu Chozha king Konaattan Veerachozhan ruled the region. Another the Tamil Vatteluttu inscription say Neelan Chellan, a washer man from Pongalur, had donated doorframe of the sanctum sanctorum. It carries the names of his wife Kavachatthi, son Chellankanatthi and that of his,” said C M Ramesh Kumar, a government school headmaster, who is involved in research on the monument.
Ravikumar said the temple might had a Teppakulam (temple tank), which might have got buried. “The name Veerasangathaperumpalli suggest that the shrine could have been used for teaching purposes.”
“I had seen the temple’s sanctum sanctorum with a 2ft tall deity, when I was young. When the sanctum sanctorum started to collapse, state archaeological officials removed the deity and a few other vital structures. Now, those articles could be seen in a museum in Coimbatore,” said A Gopal, a 44-year-old native of Alathur. “Since we earlier did not know about the temple’s importance, we had used one of the stone inscriptions for making earthenware. It is now being preserved by the archaeological department.”
Gopal said it was important to restore the Jain monument as it would tell future generations about the Jain culture followed in the region. “The archaeological department should study the history of the temple and make it public.”
When contacted, a senior official with the archaeological department told TOI that they had written to the government about restoring the temple. “We hope that it will be considered soon.”
