Jain Remains of Ancient Bengal

by Shubha Majumder | 2017 | 147,217 words

This essay studies the Jain Remains of Ancient Bengal based on the fields of Archaeology, Art and Iconography. It first deals with the history and background of Jainism in eastern India, as well as the geographical setting and sculptural remains of Jain images in ancient Bengal. Finally, an iconological study is presented regarding the Yakshas and ...

Abstract

[Jain Remains of Ancient Bengal: A Study in Archaeology, Art and Iconography]

The present work is based primarily on fresh field work and review of published literature to understand the genesis of Jainism in early Bengal. In the absence of sufficient epigraphic records on the theme, one has to depend on contemporary archaeological evidence as well as indirect epigraphic references, coupled with meager literary sources occasionally underlining the growth of Jain faith in the region.

The work is divided into seven chapters along with two appendices focusing on the research problems and discussion based on primary and secondary sources. Chapter 1 deals with the history of research and a general background of the development of Jainism in eastern India. Geographical Setting of the Study Area is described in the Chapter 2, while the Historical Background of Jainism in Ancient Bengal has been explain in the Chapter 3. Chapter 4 elucidates the distribution of sites yielding Jain remains from Bengal. While different contexts of occurrence of Jain architectural and sculptural remains have been discussed in Chapter 5 and the next chapter attempts a critical iconographic study of Jain Sculptural Remains recorded from the study area. The ‘Summary and Observations’ presented in Chapter 7 and this chapters are accompanied by the two appendices on iconological studies of the Position of Yakas and Yakṣiṇīs in Jainism and Jain Antiquities from P.C.Nahar Collection, Kolkata, where some special aspects has been illuminate.

The present study region has a long cultural sequence from the prehistoric times to the early/late medieval period, though its cultural heritage received special momentum (with the radiation of sites, construction activities of temples, installation of icons etc.) with the arrival of political lineages and religious ideologies during the early medieval period. Abundant archaeological database associated with the Jain religious ideology scattered in different parts of the study region probably lead one in gaining a fuller understanding of the nature of association of Jainism with the contemporary social matrix.

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