Cholapandiyapuram or Cholavandipuram or Cholapandipuram is a 1 sq. kilometre village in

Tirukkoyilur Tirukoilur also spelt as ''Tirukkoyilur'' or ''Tirukovilur'' is a city and the headquarters of Tirukoilur taluk in Kallakurichi District, Tamil Nadu, India. The town is located on the southern bank of Thenpennai River and famous for the Ula ...

taluk in

Kallakurichi district Kallakurichi is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. The district headquarter is Kallakurichi. Kallakurichi District was announced on 8 January 2019 and it came into existence on 26 November 2019. History During Ancient ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. Agriculture is the primary occupation of the people who live in this area. In 2011, the village had a population of 1,000 people.

Location

Cholapandiyapuram is located southwest of

, northwest of

Ulundurpettai Ulundurpettai or Ulundurpet is a municipality in Ulundurpet taluka of Kallakurichi district of Tamil Nadu, India. It is at the intersection of NH 68 and NH 45 located 205 km from Chennai and 129 km from Tiruchirappalli. Ulundurpe ...

Transportation

Town buses depart from

bus stand (bus no: 5, 20) to

Rishivandiyam Rishivandiyam is a Village Panchayati Raj, panchayat in Sankarapuram Taluk of Kallakurichi district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Rishivandhiyam is one of the 20 blocks of Kallakurichi, and has 43 panchayat villages in it. Elections and w ...

go through Cholapandiyapuram. Otherwise, one can alight at Ariyur Koot road bus stop (all buses going from

and

Kallakurichi Kallakurichi is a Municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Kallakurichi district in Tamil Nadu. As of 2019, the town had a population of 73528. Member of the L ...

) and can take shared auto.

About the village

Cholapandiyapuram village has more than 1000 years old heritage. This village was a Jain centre during the 10th century C.E.

Andimalai

The attractive feature of this village is the presence of hillock called Andimalai with Jain caves, stone beds, inscriptions and sculptures. There are 25 stone beds and some of the stone pillows of the beds were carved semicircular. The 23rd Thirthankarar of

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...

, Parshwanathar or Parshva,

Bahubali Bahubali (, ) was the son of Rishabhanatha (the first ''tirthankara'' of Jainism) and the brother of the ''Chakravarti (Sanskrit term), chakravartin'' Bharata (Jainism), Bharata. He is a revered figure in Jainism. He is said to have meditated ...

or Gomateshwara and

Mahavira Mahavira (Devanagari: महावीर, ), also known as Vardhamana (Devanagari: वर्धमान, ), was the 24th ''Tirthankara'' (Supreme Preacher and Ford Maker) of Jainism. Although the dates and most historical details of his lif ...

were nicely carved on the rock. An inscription said these carvings were made at the behest of Sriveli Konkaraiyar Puddhadigal. Another inscription was in the form of a poem: it mentions that a local chieftain, Siddhavadavan alias Sethirayan, donated Panaipadi village for the worship of these Jaina tirthankaras during the second regnal year (952 A.D.) of Chola king

Gandaraditya Gandaraditha Chola succeeded his father Parantaka I and became the Chola Empire, Chola king about 955 CE. He was also a Tamil literary poet in the Thiruvisaippa Palandu.''Epigraphy'', by Archaeological Survey of India. Southern Circle, page 1 ...

. Statues of Dharmadevi and Iyakki was placed separately in the hill. Also two statues of Adinathar or

Rishabha Rishabhanatha (Devanagari: ऋषभनाथ), also Rishabhadeva (Devanagari: ऋषभदेव, ), Rishabha (Devanagari: ऋषभ, ) or Ikshvaku (Devanagari: इक्ष्वाकु, ''Ikṣvāku''), is the first (Supreme preacher) ...

taken from nearby villages are kept in the hill. Inside a cave, a stone seat was found which possibly for a Jain monk where he sat and taught the students.

Padiyendhal

Padiyendhal is a rock art site in a small cave located backside of Andimalai. Actually the name "Padiyendhal" refers to the nearby village. Local people call this cave as "Irulan Kal". On the roof of the cave, ancient paintings of horse, bow and arrow structures are found. The symbols found in the roof and the side walls of the cave are similar to that of found in

Indus valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE ...

., p. 38

Pictures

File:Cholapandiyapuram andimalai Bahubali.jpg,

File:Cholapandiyapuram andimalai Parshvanathar1.JPG, Parshva File:Cholapandiyapuram andimalai mahavirar.jpg,

File:Cholapandiyapuram andimalai stone beds1.jpg, Stone Beds used by Jain Monks

References

{{Kallakurichi district Archaeological sites in Tamil Nadu Villages in Kallakurichi district Jain temples in Tamil Nadu 10th-century Jain temples Jain rock-cut architecture Tamil architecture Tamil art