Jainism in Tamilnadu: Art and Archaeology

Dr. A. Ekambaranathan has been working on the history of Jaina religion, its art and architecture in Tamilnadu for the last three decades and has authored 12 books and more than 30 research papers to his credit. Two of his books 'Kalugumalai and Jainism' and 'Development of Jainism under the imperial Cholas' (Both in Tamil) received the Best Publication awards for the year 1993 and 2000 instituted by the Government of Tamilnadu. Such a person of vast experience and repute undertook extensive field work of studying and documenting almost all the Jaina monuments in Tamilnadu and brought out this pioneering work on Jaina iconography in Tamilnadu. The author has made an earnest attempt to project the iconographic forms of Tirthankaras and their Sasanadevatas from a very early period down to the present day with the help of literature, inscriptions, local traditions and the rich sculptural wealth.