Jaikonda (lizard).—A sept of Dōmb.
Jain.—“Few,” Mr. T. A. Gopinatha Rao writes,[1] “even among educated persons, are aware of the existence of Jainas and Jaina centres in Southern India. The Madras Presidency discloses vestiges of Jaina dominion almost everywhere, and on many a roadside a stone Tīrthankara, standing or sitting cross-legged, is a common enough sight. The present day interpretations of these images are the same all over the Presidency. If the images are two, one represents a debtor and the other a creditor, both having met on the road, and waiting to get their accounts settled and cleared. If it is only one image, it represents a debtor paying penalty for not having squared up his accounts with his creditor.”
It is recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1891, that “out of a total of 25,716 Jains, as many as 22,273 have returned both caste and sub-division as Jain. The remainder have returned 22 sub-divisions, of which some, such as Digambara and Swetambara, are sectarian rather than caste divisions, but others like Marvādi, Osval, Vellālan, etc., are distinct castes. And the returns also show that some Jains have returned well-known castes as their main castes, for we have Jain Brāhmans, Kshatriyas, Gaudas, Vellālas, etc. The Jain Bants, however, have all returned Jain as their main caste.” At the Madras census, 1901, 27,431 Jains were returned. Though they are found in nearly every district of the Madras Presidency, they occur in the largest number in the following:—
| South Canara | 9,582 |
| North Arcot | 8,128 |
| South Arcot | 5,896 |
At the Mysore census, 1901, 13,578 Jains were returned. It is recorded in the report that “the Digambaras and Swetambaras are the two main divisions of the Jain faith. The root of the word Digambara means space clad or sky clad, i.e., nude, while Swetambara means clad in white. The Swetambaras are found more in Northern India, and are represented but by a small number in Mysore. The Digambaras are said to live absolutely separated from society, and from all worldly ties. These are generally engaged in trade, selling mostly brass and copper vessels, and are scattered all over the country, the largest number of them being found in Shimoga, Mysore, and Hassan districts. Srāvana Belagola, in the Hassan district, is a chief seat of the Jains of the province. Tīrthankaras are the priests of the Jain religion, and are also known as Pitambaras. The Jain Yatis or clergy here belong to the Digambara sect, and cover themselves with a yellow robe, and hence the name Pithambara.” The Dāsa Banajigas of Mysore style themselves Jaina Kshatriya Rāmānujas.
In connection with the terms Digambara and Swetambara, it is noted by Bühler[2] that “Digambara, that is those whose robe is the atmosphere, owe their name to the circumstance that they regard absolute nudity as the indispensable sign of holiness, though the advance of civilization has compelled them to depart from the practice of their theory. The Swetambara, that is they who are clothed in white, do not claim this doctrine, but hold it as possible that the holy ones who clothe themselves may also attain the highest goal. They allow, however, that the founder of the Jaina religion and his first disciples disdained to wear clothes.”
The most important Jain settlement in Southern India at the present day is at Srāvana Belagola in Mysore, where the Jains are employed in the manufacture of metal vessels for domestic use. The town is situated at the base of two hills, on the summit of one of which, the Indra Betta, is the colossal statue of Gomatēsvara, Gummatta, or Gomata Rāya,[3] concerning which Mr. L. Rice writes as follows.[4] “The image is nude, and stands erect, facing the north. The figure has no support above the thighs. Up to that point it is represented as surrounded by ant-hills, from which emerge serpents. A climbing plant twines itself round both legs and both arms, terminating at the upper part of the arm in a cluster of fruit or berries. The pedestal on which the feet stand is carved to represent an open lotus. The hair is in spiral ringlets, flat to the head, as usual in Jain images, and the lobe of the ears lengthened down with a large rectangular hole. The extreme height of the figure may be stated at 57 feet, though higher estimates have been given—60 feet 3 inches by Sir Arthur Wellesley (afterwards Duke of Wellington), and 70 feet 3 inches by Buchanan.” Of this figure, Fergusson writes[5] that nothing grander or more imposing exists anywhere out of Egypt, and even there no known statue surpasses it in height, though, it must be confessed, they do excel it in the perfection of art they exhibit.”
Other colossal statues of Gummata are situated on the summit of hills outside the towns of Karkal and Vēnūr or Yēnūr in South Canara. Concerning the former, Dr. E. Hultzsch writes as follows.[6] “It is a monolith consisting of the figure itself, of a slab against which it leans, and which reaches up to the wrists, and of a round pedestal which is sunk into a thousand-petalled lotus flower. The legs and arms of the figure are entwined with vines (drâkshâ). On both sides of the feet, a number of snakes are cut out of the slab against which the image leans. Two inscriptions[7] on the sides of the same slab state that this image of Bāhubalin or Gummata Jinapati was set up by a chief named Vîra-Pândya, the son of Bhairava, in A.D. 1431–32. An inscription of the same chief is engraved on a graceful stone pillar in front of the outer gateway. This pillar bears a seated figure of Brahmadêva, a chief of Pattipombuchcha, the modern Humcha in Mysore, who, like Vîra-Pândya, belonged to the family of Jinadatta, built the Chaturmukha basti in A.D. 1586–87. As its name (chaturmukha, the four-faced) implies, this temple has four doors, each of which opens on three black stone figures of the three Tīrthankaras Ari, Malli, and Munisuvrata. Each of the figures has a golden aureole over the head.” According to a legend recorded by Mr. M. J. Walhouse,[8] the Karkal statue, when finished, was raised on to a train of twenty iron carts furnished with steel wheels, on each of which ten thousand propitiatory cocoanuts were broken and covered with an infinity of cotton. It was then drawn by legions of worshippers up an inclined plane to the platform on the hill-top where it now stands.
Statue of Gummata at Karkai.