Avakinnayo Karakandu

Avakinnayo Karakandu or Karakanda (Odia: ଅବକିଣ୍ଣୟୋ କରକଣ୍ଡ) was a powerful legendary[1] Jain[2] emperor of Kalinga (Odisha and North Andhra), who is said to have lived in around 9th century BCE.

[4] Successive Jain chroniclers over the years have placed him in the group of four Chakravati kings of the Indian subcontinent during his time who also were considered as prateykabudhhas namely, Nagnajit of Gandhara, Nemi or Nimi of Videha, Durmukha or Dwimukha of Panchala and Karakandu of Kalinga.

[5] After achieving victory over many kings and ruling for a long term, Karakandu became a Jain Sramana and left the throne and kingdom in charge of his son.

It was Jain monk Kanakmara's work in Apabrhamasa or Prakrit language known as Karakandu Cariu which gives detailed events about his life.

He made his sceptre, royal umbrella and elephant goad from the wild bamboo sticks that grew out of the eye sockets of dead man's skull lying in his crematorium on the advice of Jain sramanas Yasobhadra and Virabhadra, after sitting on the throne of Kalinga.

According to the narration in the literature, the king Dadhivahana of Champa city (capital of Anga) or the real father of Karakandu demanded him to pay homages being unaware that he was his son.

Here the king of the Asmaka region by the name Shiva welcomed him to his territory by paying him a visit and Karakandu learned about the spiritual importance of the place and the mountains as a Jain shrine.

Karakandu landed on Simhala island with his army and the king accepting his suzerainty invited him to his palace and married off his daughter, the princess Rativega to him.

The narrations also say that while returning from his expedition in south with the princess of Lanka, he protected a Vidyadhara by killing his enemies and then married his daughter Kanakprabha.

The mother of Karakandu, Padmavati is also described to have attained heaven during this phase of counseling by Silagupta.According to Kanakmara, Karakanda had very strong faith in the teachings by greatest Jain philosophers of his era.