Spread of Jainism
Scholars agree in general that by the close of 4th century BC., the Mauryan king Chandragupta and a band of Jaina ascetics led by Sruthakevalin Bhadrabahu, anticipating a severe famine in their country, migrated to Sravanabelagola where from they started spreading the gospels of the Tirthankaras. Subsequently, after the death of Chandragupta and Bhadrabahu, their disciples under the leadership of Visakhacharya moved to the Chola and Pandya countries in order to propagate Jainism, and most probably, this southward movement could have taken place in the beginning of the 3rd century BC. Contemporary epigraphic evidence in Karnataka testifying such a southward migration of the Jaina mendicants, though absent, the early brahmi inscriptions found in Madurai, Tirunelveli and Pasumpon districts would prove beyong doubt the antiquity of Jainism in Tamil Nadu much earlier than the 2nd century BC.
Some are of the opinion that there was a large number of sravaks (Jain householders) in the south to support the emigrant monks, as it was a custom of the monks not to accept food from people other than the Jaina folk. Therefore it is agrued that even before the arrival of Visakhacharya and his disciples, Jainism could have taken a firm footing in Tamil Nadu.