Jainism in Mysore

Summary

This article recounts how Jainism reached Karnataka and Mysore through the leadership of Bhadrabahu, the last śrutakevali. Born to a Brahmin priest, Bhadrabahu became a learned ācārya and predicted a twelve‑year famine in northern India. He and Emperor Chandragupta Maurya therefore led about twelve thousand monks southwardshttps://jainqq.org/booktext/Jain_Journal_1969_04/520014. The story, recorded on the Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa inscriptions, describes Bhadrabahu’s dream of a twelve‑headed serpent foretelling the famine and Chandragupta’s abdication to join the migrationhttps://jainqq.org/booktext/Jain_Journal_1969_04/520014. After Bhadrabahu’s death on Mount Katavapra, his disciple Viśākhamuni led the monks further south to the Cola and Pandya countrieshttps://jainqq.org/booktext/Jain_Journal_1969_04/520014#:~:text=towards%20the%20south,guidance%20further%20south%20to%20the. The Jain communities settled along the Western Ghats and southern Mysore, forming saṃghas, gaṇas and gocchas that nurtured religious literature and regional vernacularshttps://jainqq.org/booktext/Jain_Journal_1969_04/520014#:~:text=This%20is%20how%20the%20Jainas,again%20divided%20into%20many%20gacchas. Contrary to stereotypes of ascetics shunning worldly affairs, Jain gurus in the Deccan were consulted by kings and held political influencehttps://jainqq.org/booktext/Jain_Journal_1969_04/520014#:~:text=with%20the%20world,of%20states%20that%20for%20centuries. The article then summarises the region’s political history: the Gangas ruled Mysore from the 2nd to the 11th century; they were succeeded by the Coḷas and later the Hoysalas, while the Eastern and Western Cālukyas, Rāṣṭrakūṭas and Kalacuris controlled neighbouring areashttps://jainqq.org/booktext/Jain_Journal_1969_04/520014#:~:text=points%20regarding%20the%20political%20history,in%20the%20country%20for%20a. Jainism flourished under these dynasties, who built temples and patronised scholars. Later sections (not fully reproduced) discuss Mysore’s temple architecture and literary contributions.