Samanar Hills

Samanar Hills or Samanar Malai is a hill rock complex located in Keelakuyilkudi village, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.[1] The hill has been declared as a protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India.[2][3]

Samanar Malai
Samanar Hills
Religion
Affiliation	Jainism
Location
Location	Keelakuyilkudi village, Tamil Nadu
Architecture
Date established	2000 years old
Completed	9th century

Samanar means 'Jain' in Tamil and malai means 'hill'. This hill has caves where Tamil Jain (Samanar) monks lived.[4] The hill was also known as Thiruvuruvagam.[5][6]

Information

Samanar Malai has several Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions, a number of stone beds, and many sculptures, which shows authority for Jainism in the ancient Tamil country.[7] The hill contains two famous sculptures, Settipodavu and Pechipallam, which show images of tirthankaras made by Jain monks in the 9th century CE.[7] The Settipodavu contains the image of Mahavira, the last tirthankara of Jainism.[8] The Pechipallam contains eight sculptures, including Bahubali and Mahavira.[8]

Archaeologists have also found more than 2200-year-old Jain[9] Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and Vatteluttu writings.[1] The inscriptions reveal that hundreds of Jain monks took sallekhana ('fast unto death') there.[10] There are flat rocks, called stone beds, used by the monks to take rest.[1]

The findings through the Tamil inscriptions show that there was a Jain monastery at the top of the hill known as Maadevi Perumpalli.[11][5] The Maadevi Perumpalli was an educational academy in which both Jain monks and nuns studied. The kings from the Pandyan Dynasty, who ruled Madurai, visited the academy. The Kannada students and senior monks from Shravanabelagola also stayed there.[11][7]

In the foothills, there is a Karuppanasamy temple and lotus pond.[3] Some idols made by Jain monks are in Karuppanasamy temple. The caves in the hill have been damaged by illegal quarrying in the region.[12][3]

Gallery

• 
  Pechipallam
• 
  Image of Vardhamana Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara at Samanar Hills
• 
  Settipodavu
• 
  Tirthanakar Sculpture
• 
  Mahavira
• 
  Karuppanasamy temple and lotus pond at the foot hills of Samanar Hills

References

1. T. S. Subramanian (24 March 2012). "2,200-year-old Tamil-Brahmi inscription found on Samanamalai". The Hindu. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
2. "List of Centrally Protected Monuments – Tamil Nadu". Archaeological Survey of India. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
3. "Green hope amidst ruins". Frontline.in. 14 September 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
4. M. K. Chandrashekaran (1 January 2005). Time in the Living World. Universities Press. pp. 83–. ISBN 978-81-7371-546-4.
5. "Jainism – Madurai – Jain hill – Keelakuyilkudi". tamilnadonline.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
6. Forbes India, Kamala Thiagarajan
7. "Unearthing stories from stone". The Hindu. 6 January 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
8. "Samanar Malai". Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage. Archived from the original on 19 January 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
9. Pattanaik, Devdutt (14 October 2016). "The hermits of Samanar Hills". mint. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
10. "Understanding Madurai". The Hindu. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
11. S. Aravindan (August 2008). "Heritage value of Perumal Malai" (pdf). Development Matters. Development of Humane Action. p. 15. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
12. "Unexploited vestiges of Jainism". 25 April 2002. Retrieved 20 January 2014.