Shri 1008 Chandraprabhu Digamber Jain Mandir, 15, Ramasami Koil W Street, Valayapettai Agraharam, Kumbakonam, District - Thanjavur (T.N.)

Digamber Jain Temple in Kumbakonam, Thanjavur This Jain temple is dedicated to Shri Chandraprabha Tirthankara, the 8th Tirthankara of 24 Tirthankaras . This is a private temple built in 1903 by Mr. Vasubalan, an Advocate. Consecration of the Panchakalyan was conducted in 1905. Now the temple is being taken care of by Advocate Vasubalan’s descendant Mr.Ravi, who is an auditor. As per one of the trustees, Adv. Vasubalan had left a will in which 10 acres of land and a house were dedicated in favour of this temple. ARCHITECTURE The temple is facing east with a Rajagopuram base. Manasthambam, Balipeedam, and Dwajasthambam are after the entrance. Two stucco Dwarapalakas are at the entrance of Ardha mandapam. The Main Deity Shri Chandraprabha Tirthankara is in a sitting posture. Sasana Devas are on three sides of the entrance to the sanctum sanctorum. Brass metal images of Tirthankaras Parshvanath, Adhinath, Dharma Deva, Yaksha and Yakshis are in the Ardha mandapam. Koshtas are empty. Dharma Deva’s idol is on the Southeast corner, abutting the sanctum sanctorum wall. The Temple consists of sanctum sanctorum, Ardha mandapam, and a Mukha mandapam. The sanctum sanctorum is on a Padmapeedam, and adhistanam is of Pada bandha adhistanam with jagathy, tripatta kumudam and pattikai. The Bhitti starts with vedikai. Vishnu kantha pilasters with a square base and Nagabandham, kalasam, kudam, lotus petals mandi, palakai and vettu pothyal. The prastaram consists of Valapi, Kapotam and Viyyalavari. The Temple was constructed with stone from adhistanam to prastaram. The superstructure, Vimanam is of eka tala Vesara style built with brick and lime mortar. The stucco images of Tirthankaras are in the greeva kostam. Yaksha and Yakshis are also in the greevam. The jagathy around the sanctum sanctorum has the bas reliefs of Dancers, Musicians, etc, which is another unique feature of this temple. No major renovations were carried out on the stone structure and only some repairs and painting has been done of the stucco Vimanam since the time it was constructed. It is seen that the stones used are not uniform in colour and quality. The pilasters, base, and upper parts do not synchronize, and the two pilasters are not similar. Moreover, no Tirthankaras bas reliefs are found in this temple. As per the experts, the components do not belong to 1903, but much earlier ie. 10th to 11th Century of Chola Raja Raja-I Period. Seems like this temple has been constructed using some other old temple’s parts, dismantled, and brought from elsewhere. Some 18th to 20th-century fragments and damaged inscriptions are found on the sanctum sanctorum wall and Rajagopuram base. Only a few letters could be identified. LEGENDS Chandrabrabha Tirthanka was born to King Mahasena and Queen Lakshmana Devi, at Chandrapuri near Varanasi. He lived for 10 lakhs years and measures to a height of 150 bows (450 meters). He renounced this worldly life soon after accession to the throne, and after 3 months did meditation under the Naga tree and obtained Kevala Gnana and attained Nirvana later. The yaksha and Yakshi of Shantinatha are Syama & Jvalamalinī according to Digambara tradition and Vijaya & Bhṛkuṭi according to Svetambara tradition. (Source: https://veludharan.blogspot.com/.../shri-1008...)