The Chitharal Jain Monuments is situated in Thiruchanattu, a blessing of nature. These are situated in Thiruchanattu malai near Chithral village in Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu, India. The route Neyyattinkara, Kaliyakavila, Marthandam, Thrikurissi, and Chithral, from Trivandrum, is 50km. Shravana Balagola in Karnataka is known as the center of Jainism. Various missionaries were sent to Kerala and other places for campaigning, because of this the Jainism slowly started to get root in Kerala. It is believed that the Jain temple in Alathoor in Palakad and Kallil temple near Perumbavoor is a proof of that. The Chitharal is the oldest evidence of the Jainism campaign in many places. You can go by vehicle till the bottom of the hill where these monuments are situated. Then you need to climb the hill for about 10 minutes. The temple is built like it is inside the rock. There are so many sculptures and monuments here like beautiful sculptures engraved in rock, many sculptures craved by Tirthankara in natural stone, sculptures of different forms of Mahaveera. These were the oldest sculptures and monuments in Jain in between the period from the 1st to 6th centuries. The Thiruchanur Archaeological Series says that the hills which called as Thiruchanarayan Malai are mountains of Charan. Now, Chitharal Jain Monuments is included in the list of protected monuments of the Archaeological Survey of India. There is no doubt in that this thousands of year old Chitharal Monuments which have the history of Jain culture will be an asset to the history lovers
Chitharal Jain Monuments
