Introduction

Many are the great souls who conquered their passions
And attained release in times long past; though these great souls
Have now vanished from our sight, we can still see the places
That they sanctified by their glorious acts

Ravisena (Padma Purāṇa)

This chapter entitled “Distribution of Sites Yielding Jain Remains” as the name suggests deals with the distribution of sites and their archaeological as well as sculptural assemblages bearing Jain affiliation. The sites described here are all explored ones except the site Kotra (Gajpur), which was partially excavated. Some of the sites have already been reported while a number of sites were recorded during the course of the present work. Most of the reported sites are located in the districts of Purulia, Bankura and Burdwan. In the present work the distribution of archaeological sites associated with Jain antiquities has been discussed with reference to the four zones.

Zone 1:

District Purulia;
District Bankura;
District Burdwan;
District West Midnapur;
District Burdwan (Sadar North and Sadar South subdivisions);

The present zone covering the eastern fringes of the Chottanagpur Plateau encompasses the districts of Purulia, Bankura, western part of Burdwan and West Midnapur. This present geographical zone is variously known as Suhma and Rāḍha during ancient time. Archaeologically this region is quite rich having a long chrono-cultural sequence starting from the prehistoric times to the early/late medieval period. The cultural heritage of this area 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. The monumental feature of settlement structure, especially during the early medieval period, is categorically envisaged by the enormous wealth of archaeological relics in form of abandoned temple complexes, architectural members and sculptural remains reported from this region. In all probability the said database is the best signifier of its early medieval socio-cultural milieu. Interestingly, the impressive array of Jain sculptures and architectural members in this database substantiate the fact that the region abounds in Jain heritage and it served as the most important thriving Jain centre at least for a considerable time during the early medieval period. This Jain identity is perhaps the most significant aspect to envisage the socio-cultural framework of the historical period. Majority of the early medieval sites/settlements or find spots of this region are closely associated with Jain ideology. We were able to document a significant number of Jain sculptural remains as well as abandoned temple complexes from the different areas of the present zone.

Zone 2:

District East Midnapur; 
District North Twenty Four Parganas;
District South Townty Parganas;
District Hooghly;

This zone comprises the coastal region or littorals or the active delta zone including its immediate hinterland area covering the modern districts of East Midnapur, North and South Twenty Four-Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and some parts of south and central Burdwan (Sadar North and South subdivisions), i.e., the region comprising ancient Rāḍha-mandala, DakṣiṇaRāḍha, Daṇḍabhukti. This zone is rich in its archaeological remains. Besides a good number of sculptural evidences of early medieval period, the history goes back to the early historic time also. The literary and epigraphic sources and the available data related to history, culture and society of these regions provide substantial database through which one may consider the historical significance of this part of coastal Bengal and its neighborhoods. Due to the paucity of epigraphic sources of the Imperial Guptas, it is very difficult to reconstruct the socio-political history of this unit. The most precise information are available for the reconstruction of history during the postGupta period onwards, Daṇḍa-bhukti and Vardhamāna-bhukti were the bigger geo-political units incorporating Rāḍha or particularly, Dakṣiṇa-Rāḍha apparently with the concerned area (Howrah and Hooghly). The religious development of this area also provides enormous data in the context of Śaivism and Vaiṣṇavism. However, Jainism also strongly survived in the different segments of this zone and a good number of Jain antiquities along with temples associated with Jain ideology are reported from this zone.

Zone 3:

District Murshidabad;
District Birbhum;
District Burdwan (Katwa and Kalna sub-divisions);

The sector along the western bank of Bhagirathi including the Mayurakshi Plain coversg the present districts of Murshidabad, Birbhum and some parts of north and north-eastern Burdwan (Katwa and Kalna sub-divisions) i.e., the region included in ancient Vardhamāna-bhukti, Uttar Rāḍha, Kaṅkanagrāmabhukti. Archaeologically, this zone is also very rich, especially in the context of Jainism. We were able to document some Jain sculptural as well as architectural remains from this region.

Zone 4:

District Malda;
District Uttar Dinajpur;
District Dakshin Dinajpur;
District Dinajpur (Rangpur division, Bangladesh);
District Rajsahi (Rajsahi Division, Bangladesh);

This zone includes North Bengal and part of the Mahananda Plains comprising the modern districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, North and South Dinajpur and Malda besides, the Rangpur and Rajsahi divisions of Bangladesh (mainly the districts of Dinajpur and Rajsahi) our present study we have also incorporated these two images along with archaeological ruins of However, two stray finds of Jain sculptural remains were found from Dakha division and for the sake of these two sites. This region was popularly known as Varendrī and apparently the ancient geo-political unit known as Puṇḍravardhana-bhukti. This zone is well known for the sculptural remains pertaining to the so-called mature Pāla idiom.