Jainism found a firm foot hold and reception in Tamil Nadu. It became an important factor in the socio religion and intelectual life of the land. It had its dent in the land from the time of Chandragupta the Maurya emperor the grandfather of Ashoka. P.B.Desai the noted historian has established that Jain religion entered the Chola and Pandya kingdoms at the 300 B.C.The Jain activities reached zenith at the Sangama age. Its monastic centres were established at Chitran, Madurai, Ramnad, Pudukotai, South and North Arcots.
Shilapadikaram a great Tamil Jain CLassic mentions the name of Ilangovatikal a Jain prince turned Jain monk. It has been compared to Iliad in Greek culture, with a woman protagonist. Jainism played a vital role in the context of broad social and historic values and also in the domain of art and archeology. The natural caves scattered all over the Tamilnadu are the early Jain foundations and monuments. The ruins, antiquities and hundreds of inscriptions in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada in Tamilnadu attest to the fact the influence of Jainism in the land.
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