Tamil Jainとは 意味・読み方・使い方

Tamil Jains or Samanar are Tamil people from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu who practice Jainism/Samanam. They are a micro community of around 85,000 in number (Around 0.13% of population of Tamil Nadu). Tamil Jains belong to the Jain Digambara sect, who speak Tamil in their homes. Jainism is called Samanam (சமணம்) in Tamil and the practitioners of the religion are called Samanar (சமணர்). They are mostly scattered in Northern Tamil Nadu, mostly in the districts of Chennai, Villupuram, Kancheepuram, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Cuddalore and Thanjavur. Their language now is Tamil, although in the past they were well versed in Sanskrit and Pali. They are not to be confused with the Jains who have settled in Tamilnadu in the past century, who speak Hindi, Marwari, Gujarati or other languages. Not many people (even within Tamil Nadu) in India know that Tamil Jains are indigenous Tamil population. Although there are a number of Jain families who have migrated from the North India that live in Tamil Nadu (especially in and around Chennai), the indigenous Tamil Jains have lived here for thousands of years.