Kilakuyilkudi Jain Caves - madurai tourism

Samanar Malai is located about 8 kilometres from Madurai. The 8th Century A.D. rock cut figure of Mahavir is one of the beautiful rock carvings in Tamil Nadu, which has to be seen during sunset in its full glory. The rock cut sculptures of the Jain Thirthankars in Nagamalai remain with minute details of carvings, surviving adverse weather conditions.Linguists can have a wonderful time at Nagamalai, which contains Kannada and Tamil `vattezhuththu’ inscriptions. One of the inscriptions describes a Jain monk from Karnataka who died at Madurai because of snakebite.

Keelakuyilkudi located near Madurai has two representations of Parsvanathar. The first icon includes a coiled snake which zigzags behind the figure and culminates as a hood over the head.It is enshrined in a niche with a decorative arch supported by plaster motifs on the flanks. The other icon is similar to the first, but includes the addition of Kamatha, getting ready to attack the Jina.