Affiliation Jainism Date established before 425 AD | Deity Padmavati Temple(s) 1 | |
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Location Chitharal, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India Similar Chitharal Jain Monuments, Kalugumalai Jain Beds, Mannargudi Mallinatha Swamy J, Mel Sithamur Jain Math, Tirumalai | ||
Chitharal is a goddess temple situated at ‘Thiruchanattu’ hillocks, located about 4 miles northeast of Kuzhithurai.
Overview
It was built thousands of years ago, but the Jain temple was overtaken by Hindus in the 425 AD. Inside the temple, stone carvings ‘thirucharanam’ was written instead of ‘thiruchanattu'. ‘Charanan’ was the name given to Jain monks. The goddess worshipped there is ‘Thirucharanathu bhataariyar - Pathmavathi’ (belief). 'Parshwanathan' and Mahavira idols are carved in the temple. The scripts written there are in ‘vatta ezhuthu’. It is believed that the 'Vikramaditya Varagunan', the founder of the temple, is the King Vikramaditya in Indian history. A script written there is about the gold ornaments offered to ‘Thricharathu bhataariyar’ by ‘Aaya gunanthangi kuratthikal’, the devotees of Arathanemi bhataariyar (Perakudi) during the 28th ruling year of king Vikramaditya.
