chief centres — his expenses being paid by the communities he visits — settles caste disputes, and fines, and excommunicates the erring. His control over his people is still very real, and is in strong contrast to the waning authority of many of the Hindu gurus. The Jain community now holds a high position in Tindivanam taluk, and includes wealthy traders and some of quite the most intelligent agriculturists there. The men use the title of Nayinār or Udaiyār, but their relations in Kumbakōnam and elsewhere in that direction sometimes call themselves Chetti or Mudaliyār. The women are great hands at weaving mats from the leaves of the date-palm. The men, except that they wear the thread, and paint on their foreheads a sect-mark which is like the ordinary Vaishnavite mark, but square instead of semi-circular at the bottom, and having a dot instead of a red streak in the middle, in general appearance resemble Vellalās. They are usually clean shaved. The women dress like Vellālas, and wear the same kind of tāli (marriage emblem) and other jewellery. The South Arcot Jains all belong to the Digambara sect, and the images in their temples of the twenty-four Tīrthankaras are accordingly without clothing. These temples, the chief of which are those at Tirunirankonrai *[1] and Sittāmūr, are not markedly different in external appearance from Hindu shrines, but within these are images of some of the Tīrthankaras, made of stone or of painted clay, instead of representations of the Hindu deities. The Jain rites of public worship much resemble those of the Brāhmans. There is the same bathing of the god with sacred oblations, sandal, and so on; the same lighting and waving of lamps, and burning of camphor; and the same breaking of cocoanuts,
- ↑ * Also known as Jaina Tirupati.
