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Photo :K. Ganesan

Enterprising Informative experience

Whereas, all that is needed to get a taste of what more exists in and around Madurai is barely a drive of 12-odd kms West of the city. You reach Samanamalai, located in the picturesque village of Keezhakuyilkudi which houses Jain architecture dating back to 8th and 9th century A.D. Surrounded by lush green fields, the place provides a perfect refuge to all those seeking an escape from the drudgery of daily life.

Though neglected for decades despite its tremendous historical value, Samanamalai was thrust into limelight on World Tourism Day last week (September 27). The occasion was marked by a ‘Madurai Heritage Walk’ organised in Samanamalai by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Madurai Zone, and Travel Club.

An upbeat group, comprising the District Collector, S.S. Jawahar, locals and a mixture of school and college students set off for the heritage walk from under a huge banyan tree at the bottom of the hill, which is worshiped as ‘Karuppuswami’ by the residents. The climb was made interesting by a retired MKU Professor of Art History, R. Venkatraman, who held the group in rapt attention with historical nuggets. Well into his seventies, he raced the students to the top of the hill, giving the youngsters a run for their breath. And this in the absence of any support like hand railings or steps cut into the rocky surface of the hillock.

The professor explained how the place was once a citadel of Tamil language. The Jain monks, who came south from Bihar during the 3rd century B.C and found place in Kancheepuram and Madurai, converted the hill into a great centre of learning ‘Madevi Perumpalli,’ according to the inscriptions.

An intriguing fact about the place is the availability of water on both ends — at the bottom of the hill is a huge pond flushed with fish. Atop the hillock where there are Jain architectures of Parsvanatha and Mahavira of the 23 rd and 24th tirthankaras respectively, there is a small water body.

Apart from this, a relief sculpture of Bahubali — whose 68 feet high statue is found at Sravana belgola, Karnataka — also exists.

Syncretism marks the place, as it is known to be a converging point for different religions. In fact, all forms of primitive worship such as worship of mountains, water, and tree can be seen here. The only major primitive form of worship not found here is snake worship, says Dr. Venkatraman. He aptly describes Samanamalai as a “living museum of all religious cults.”

The hill contains ‘Vatteluthu’ inscriptions, an early Tamil script which was derived from ‘Brahmi’ script and was in vogue between 300 B.C and 300 A.D. The present Tamil language alphabet and north Indian languages evolved from the ‘Brahmi’ script.

Elucidating further, Prof.Venkataraman said the village provided a perfect platform for Jain monks to carry out an array of activities from enriching Tamil language through their works in poetry, philosophy and grammar to professing medicine.

Apart from being a great centre of learning, the monks performed ‘Sallekana,’ a form of suicide, which involved no external aid of any sort but through starvation. This made the place a holy one for Jain community and till date scores of people from all parts of the country come here on a pilgrimage.

That these vestiges have managed to survive till date is due to the local inhabitants who protected these inscriptions without having knowledge about them or their importance.

Pointing out the example of Kallar community, Dr. Venkatraman says that they worshiped ‘Karuppuswami’ and believed that he resided in the hill, on the tree and even in the pond at the foothill. This community arrived about 500 years ago and settled in two villages, ‘Vadi-vel-karai’ and ’Keezhakuyilkudi,’.

The locals safeguard the place so zealously that fishing and use of soaps in the tank is strictly prohibited. In fact, women remove their footwear while crossing the area around the temple, says the retired professor.

Once the interesting on-the-spot history session got over, the enthusiastic participants encountered several heart-stopping moments on their downhill journey in the absence of supporting rails and steps.

Samanamalai is undoubtedly rich in value, But the place portrays a sad picture of neglect due to vandalism. Many parts of the caves have been defaced with names painted, and at places even carved on them.

A rusted board is the only testimony of Archaeological Survey of India’s presence, under whose control the place is.

Apparently unchecked mining near the place caused a portion of the hill to collapse a few years back.

The accident spurred the authorities into action and put a full stop to mining.

Summing up the reasons for neglect, the Collector Mr. Jawahar, said the presence of so many monuments of historical value in the city is a bane as complacency sets in. People develop the tendency of not giving them the due protection or respect.

Regretting the lack of interest in these monuments even among Maduraites, Dr. Venkatraman rues that two American universities – Washington University and University of Wisconsin – are fascinated enough to conduct courses. But the same level of interest and enthusiasm is missing in India.

While Washington University students have been visiting the inscriptions as part of South India Term Abroad (SITA) since 1990, the University of Wisconsin students have been studying them from 1976.

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