Vijayamangalam Jain Temple

Vijayamangalam Jain Temple, also called the Chandraprabha Tirthankara temple, stands in Vijayamangalam, an Erode district town that was once an old Jain settlement in the Kongu Nadu region. It is dedicated to Chandraprabha, the eighth Tirthankara, and was built around 678 CE by King Konguvelir of the Velir dynasty, who composed the Tamil epic Perunkathai here; figures of the king, his maid and the scholars of the Tamil Sangam that gathered here are installed inside. It is described as the oldest Jain temple in Kongu Nadu, and the 12th-century grammarian Bhavanandi, author of Nannul, was born in the village.

Entered through a gopuram into a walled prakaram, the temple has a south-facing brick vimana in Western Ganga style. It keeps twenty-four stone Tirthankara images, yakshi figures and bronzes of Rishabhanatha, Anantanatha, Neminatha and Mahavira, along with paintings and inscriptions, and about 130 reliefs on the inner ceiling tell the life of Rishabhanatha. It is still a place of worship and is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.