Thirupanamoor and Karanthai are twin villages about 19 km from

Kanchipuram Kanchipuram ('; ) also known as ''Conjeevaram,'' is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''City of Thousand Temples'', Kanchipuram is known for its temple ...

. They host historically important

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

temples containing historical inscriptions. There is a population of local Jains in these and nearby villages. Thirupanamoor village has a Jain temple dedicated to Lord

Pushpadanta In Jainism, Pushpadanta ( sa, पुष्पदन्त), also known as Suvidhinatha, was the ninth Tirthankara of the present age ('' Avasarpini''). According to Jain belief, he became a siddha and an arihant, a liberated soul that has des ...

that houses a rare gilded plaster image of him, with hundreds of brass images and a library. It is believed to have been the home of Acharya Akalanka Deva. The temple has footprints of Jain munis Dharmasagar, Sudharmasagar and Gajapati Sagar, who attained ''

sallekhana ''Sallekhana'' (IAST: ), also known as ''samlehna'', ''santhara'', ''samadhi-marana'' or ''sanyasana-marana'', is a supplementary vow to the ethical code of conduct of Jainism. It is the religious practice of voluntarily fasting to death by ...

''. The village is the ancestral home of Wing Commander

Abhinandan Varthaman Abhinandan Varthaman VrC (born 21 June 1983) is an Indian Air Force fighter pilot who, during the 2019 India–Pakistan standoff, was involved in entering Pakistani airspace and his MIG 21 was shot down by Pakistani PAF F-16 on 27 February 2019 ...

and his father, retired Air Marshal Simhakutty Varthaman. Thirupanamur Digambar Jain Temple

The Samadhi of Acharya Akalanka Deva: Between Thirupanamoor and Karanthai lies a memorial with ''chhatris'' with footprints of ancient Jain sages including the samadhi of

logician Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

and Sanskritist Acharya Akalanka Deva, who is known for his discussion of

Anekantavada ( hi, अनेकान्तवाद, "many-sidedness") is the Jain doctrine about metaphysical truths that emerged in ancient India. It states that the ultimate truth and reality is complex and has multiple aspects. According to Jainism, ...

. He was the founder of the Deva Sangha order of Digambar monks. Karanthai has a complex of well known Jain temples. This was once a site where Jain munis resided, and hence it is termed Munigiri. This is also the site associated with famed Jain logician Acharya Akalanka (720-780), and hence is also called Akalankabasti. The Jain complex has three temples. The main temple is dedicated to Lord

Kunthunath Kunthunath was the seventeenth Tirthankara, sixth Chakravartin and twelfth Kamadeva of the present half time cycle, Avasarpini. According to Jain beliefs, he became a siddha, liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karma. Kunthunatha w ...

, believed to have been established by

Pallava The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahana dynasty, with whom they had formerly served as fe ...

ruler Nandivarma circa 806-896 AD. The Mahavira temple to the south is from the 12th century. The Adinath temple, and the adjacent shrine of Goddess Kushmandini (

Ambika Ambika may refer to: Mythology * Ambika (goddess), an avatar of the Hindu goddesses Durga, Parvati, and Shakti * Ambika (Jainism), a Jain Yakshini goddess * Ambika (Mahabharata), the wife of Vichitravirya was also the mother of Dhritarashtra, ...

) is from the 15th century. A Brhmadeva shrine lies to the southwest. A '' panchakalyanaka'' was conducted there in 1991 and in 2017 to install new Jain images. Every year in Falguna month, a ''brahmostavam'' is celebrated. Special worship is conducted on Akshaya Tritiya, Mahavir Jayanti, Diwali, Jinaratri and Vasant Panchami. The Karanthai complex is famous for its Vijayanagar period murals.Targets of destruction, T. S. Subramanian, The Hindu, JUNE 16, 2011
/ref> Karandai was the village of the author of classic Tamil text '' Naṉṉūl'', Pavanandi. The Dharumasagar library contains historical manuscripts. It was set up by Jeevabandhu T. S. Sripal in 1930s who was from Thirupanamoor. This is also the hometown of

References

{{coord missing, Tamil Nadu Jain temples in Tamil Nadu Archaeological monuments in Tamil Nadu 9th-century Jain temples

See also

References