Ep#11 | ഒരു പഴയകാല ഓർമ്മകളിലേക്ക് തിരിച്ച് പോയി Samanar Hills Keelakuilkudi சமணர் மலை

Samanar Hills Keelakuilkudi சமணர் மலை road trip Tamil Nadu Madurai



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Samanar Hills, also known as Samanar Malai or Amanarmalai or Melmalai, is a rocky stretch of hills located near Keelakuyilkudi village, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of Madurai city, Tamil Nadu, India. They stretch east–west over 3 kilometers towards Muthupatti village. These rocky hillocks are home to many Jain and Hindu monuments.The hill has been declared as a protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India.



Samanar Mala,Samanar Hills

ReligionAffiliationJainism, HinduismLocationLocationKeelakuyilkudi village, Tamil NaduArchitectureDate established2000 years oldCompleted

History

The entrance to the lower Samanar hills Jain monuments.

The Samanar Hills are located west of Madurai, near the junction of Indian highways NH44 and NH85. The rocky hills begin around the village Kilkuyilkudi and stretch in an easterly direction towards south Madurai. Different parts of these rocky hills are called by different names and are home to a range of monuments dating between 2nd-century BCE and 12th-century CE. The south side of the extreme western end of this rocky hillocks is called the Samanar hills, and these containing a number of Jain and Hindu monuments.  The eastern parts of the same rocky hillocks include other important sites such as the Skandamalai with the Thiruparankundram Jain cave and Hindu monuments (Umai Andar), the major rock cut Subramaniya Swamy temple (Skanda) and the 17th to 18th-century Islamic dargah for Sikandar Shah – the last Sultan of the Madurai Sultanate (1372–1377 CE). The Samanar hills contain many Jain and some Hindu monuments and inscriptions at several levels.

Samanar is derived from Sanskrit word Sramana, colloquially denoting any ascetic tradition. In contemporary Tamil Nadu, the word is equated with the Jain tradition. In Tamil language, malai means 'hill'. Thus Samanar malai denotes a "Jain hill". The hill was also known as Melmalai (hills to the west), Amanarmalai (derived from Samanarmalai). In some Tamil texts, a Jain site named Thiruvuruvakam is mentioned, which scholars suggest is same as Samanar Hills.

According to Mahajan, it was the 8th-century Jain scholar Akalanka who founded Samanar Hills and nearby Madurai Jain basadis (settlements) after vanquishing the Buddhist scholars at Kanchipuram. This led to Jains flourishing here between the 9th and 12-century, along with the establishment of a monastery.

The Samanar hills have two significant collection of Jain monuments. On the southwestern slope tip is the Settipodavu with a 10th-century Jain cave (povadu from pudai, means cave). Settipodavu is a short climb up from the base. On the southeastern slope is the Pechchipallam site at a higher level. The Pechchipallam is on the other side of the hills than Settipodavu, and they too contain Jaina reliefs and inscriptions. The Pechchipallam carvings and inscriptions are mostly from the 10th-century, a few from the late 9th century and a few after the 10th-century. A few Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have also been found at the top of the Samanar hills, but their translation is a secular language, and does not imply a definite connection with Buddhism, Jainism or Hinduism. Near the base and at the top of the Samanar hills are the damaged and then restored Karuppu Sami temple and a ruined Koyil dedicated to Vishnu whose jagati (base platform) only survives. These were probably one of the many victims of the religious demolitions and wars in the Thiruparankundram area in the 14th-century, given Thiruparankundram-Madurai were among sites targeted for raids and looting by the Delhi Sultanate, and thereafter served as the capital of Madurai Sultanate.