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About
eight hundred odd inscriptions which the Karnataka Archeological
Department has collected at the place are mostly Jaina and cover a
very extended period from 600 to 1830 A.D. Some refer even to the
remote time of Chandragupta Maurya and also relate the story of the
first settlement of Jains at Shravanabelagola. That this village was
an acknowledged seat of learning is proved from the fact that a
priest from here named Akalanka was in 788 A.D. summoned to the
court of Himasitala at Kanchi where having confuted the Buddhists in
public disputation, he was instrumental in gaining their expulsion
from the South of India to Ceylon. At the time of the conversion of
Vishnivardhana Hoysala to the Vaishanava faith by the reformer
Ramanujacharya it is wrongly alleged that the Jains suffered much
persecution, but in reality their influence at the court continued
practically unabated. Differences between the Jains and Sri
Vaishnavas existed, but a compromise was brought about in the time
of Bukkaraya of Vijayanagar which resulted in a declaration of
toleration which was inscribed on stones and set up in public
places.
The place abounds in
inscriptions, some of the most interesting of which are those cut on
the floor of the rocks on Chandragiri in purva-Halagannada
characters several inches long. For purposes of history there are
numerous inscriptions giving details of great importance relating to
the rise and growth in power of the Ganga kings, the death of the
last of the Rashtrakutas, the establishment and expansion of the
Hoysala kingdom, the supremacy of the Vijayanagar Empire and lastly
the reign of the Mysore Royal House. In addition, these inscriptions
have helped us to a great extent in understanding the nature and
growth of Kannada language and literature. |
