Ancient Habitational Complexes or Beneath the Trees

[Full title: Sculptural/Architectural Fragments either in the Ancient Habitational Complexes or Beneath the Trees]

In the present group I include these sites/settlements or “find spots” where Jain images are kept beneath the trees or in ancient habitational complexes. Sometimes images are documented in situ conditions however in most of the cases Jain images are kept without contexts. Just images are kept without any kind of protection under trees and worshiped as village deities assimilated with the Brahmanical ideology. I have documented a number of archaeological sites/settlements or “find spots” from different parts of ancient Bengal. Paruldiha, Dakakendu, Bandoan, Ulda, Herbona, Basudevpur, Bansgarh, Sasandihi, Sirgi, Rajnoagarh, Khelaicandirthan, Podlara, Hatuyara, Hatmura, Pabrapahari, Bauridi, Ladhurka, Lalpur, Tadgram, Raksatpur, Sanka, Badra, Mangaldiha etc in the district of Purulia; Saldha, Kotulpur, Bhagalpur, Madanpur/Jaynagar, Hat Asuria, Patashpur, Tiluri, Balarampur, Namo Kechanda/Choto Kechanda, Jiorda, Sulgi, Paresnath, Chiada/Navachiada, Ramnagar, Layek Para, Ghotra, Lakshmisagar and Alkadhara in Bankura district; Barakar, Domahania/Domani, Kaitara in Burdwan district (Asansol and Durgapur sub divisions); Parihati, Hirapari, Tetulia Bhumjan, Lacchipur-Nepura, Kiyarchand, Sat Deula in West Midnapur district; Hukrahat in Murshidabad district, Ghurisha and Baragram in Birbhum district.

I have documented twenty three sites/settlements or “find spots” from Purulia district. Among them habitational ruins as well as Jain sculptural remains are encountered from Ulda, Bansgarh, Sirgi, Podlara, Pabrapahari, Bauridi, Ladhurka, Tadgram, Raksatpur and Sanka and only Jain images are documented from the remaining localities (which do not exhibit ancient habitational complexes). In this group “find spots” are more than the actual sites/settlements.

In the centre of the Ulda village there is a religious spot known as Dwarsini where three Jain Tīrthaṅkara images of different sizes are still worshiped as Brahmanical deities. Near this place I noticed a low habitational mound scattered with different potsherds and two memorial stones are placed over this mound (Pl.XIII.G).

The present village Bansgarh stands, over the ruins of an earlier settlement, on the bank of a large pond. An image of Tīrthaṅkara Ṛṣabhanātha is lying beneath a Neem tree at the backside of the house of Haripada Sahitya Mandir, Purulia. Another Tīrthaṅkara image along with a Viṣṇu image is presently kept in the Durgā temple of this village. At the central part of Sirgi the place of Devasthan or Gram Devatar Sthan, is seen scattered with the fragment pieces of sculptural specimens and architectural members most of which are assignable to Jain religious pantheon. In both the cases low structural mounds of Bansgarh and Sirgi must be exposed for proper understanding about the antecedences of Jainism in this region concerned. In the site Podlara I noticed that a Pārśvanātha image is kept under a tree, just at the entry point of the village and the surrounding areas are also scattered with different architectural remains. Inside the village there are some areas from where we can get the old habitational ruins.

Pabrapahari is a classic site with full of archaeological ruins. However, most parts of the village are covered with bushy trees engulfing a structural mound. The architectural vestiges at the site along with other sculptural fragments are enough to elucidate the religious identity of the site which is mainly Jain in character. It is presently within the precincts of a small box-like modern temple built on the ruins of a structural mound, under a big tamarind tree. The mound is locally known as Tentultala. This image is now worshipped by the villagers as Śivathākur, i.e., Śiva. We have documented five Jain images from Bauridi. These images are presently housed in a newly constructed Śiva temple (Pl.XIII.H). The newly constructed temple basically stands over a low structural cum habitational mound. This mound is possibly the ruins of a remarkable temple complex which is no doubly Jain in character. Unfortunately modern encroachment gradually damaged this mound. Excavation is very much required for unrevealing the lost Jain settlements of this region. The site Ladhurka is well known for the temple complex of Chandeswar clearly indicates its affluent condition as a popular religious site from a very long time suggesting the tradition of uninterrupted continuity of worship. The present temple complex apparently stands on the ruins of an earlier structure as well as habitational. The present site possesses a few sculptural remains including a Jain image kept under a tree and four in situ specimens of memorial stones lying inside the temple complex. The discovery of some Black and Red Ware sherds from a low habitational mound of Tadgram indicates its long cultural association. Interestingly during our recent visit in this village we also documented some Jain images from six different localities.

The sites Raksatpur and Sanka are very close to the temple site Banda. In both the villages I noticed low habitational mounds scattered with different early medieval potsherds and other antiquities. I have documented Jain sculptural remains from these two villages and the discoveries suggest that the earlier religious affiliation of these sites were mainly Jain in character, though at present these images lost their own identities. Interestingly during our visits at these two villages I also documented a thriving population of “Sarāk’ communities. This group of population indicates that Jainism was strongly survived in these regions from the early medieval period onwards.

There are twelve find spots in this district from where we documented only the Jain images however, we failed to trace the old habitational remains from these localities. Among these find spots the village Paruldiha possesses an exquisite image of Ṛṣabhanātha which is presently worshipped as Bhairava in the courtyard of the residence of a local villager called Lakshman Chandra Ganguli. According to the local villagers they brought this image from a place near the Kansavati river bed. A broken specimen of Jain Aṣṭapādatīrtha along with other sculptural remains was recorded from the Mathur Karmakar house of the Dakakendu village. Bandoan is situated about 9 kms south west of Dakakendu and I noticed a weathered image of Tīrthaṅkara Ṛṣabhanātha from the Kalbhairav tala, in front of the Bandoan High School. We recorded seven pieces of Jain sculptural specimens from the modern Śiva temple at the northern part of the Herbona village. A Pārśvanātha image of smaller dimensions is worshipped inside this temple as an image of goddess Śiva. The damaged specimens are also worshipped as Brahmanical deities.

The Chandanpur locality of Basudevpur village possesses an image of a Jain Tīrthaṅkara, now lying under a tree and worshiped as Bhairava. Sasandihi is a small village with a tribal population, located on the left side of the Balarampur–Purulia railway tract. In the outskirts of this village there is place of worship locally known as Buro Thakur Tala and in this find spot the main image of worship is Tīrthaṅkara Ṛṣabhanātha. In the village of Rajnoagarh there is a big pond locally known as Paralya Dighi which is located just behind the office of the Sabara Samity. On the bank of this pond on a high platform stands a fairly eroded Tīrthaṅkara Ṛṣabhanātha image. This image is locally worshipped as the goddess Sasthīmā. We were very fortunate that we were able to document an image of Ṛṣabhanātha from Ward No. 16 (Khelaicandirthan) of the Purulia Municipality. The find-spot is essentially a dolmen type of “megalithic” burial site presently occupied by the specimen. The image has been painted with red colour and is presently worshipped as the goddess Khelaicandi. In the south of the Hatuyara village an image of Tīrthaṅkara Pārśvanātha was found at the back of a Śiva temple (Pl.XIV.A). It may not be ruled out that this particular image was most probably brought from the nearby site of Chharra and iconographically this image shows similarity with the other Jain images of Chharra. Presently this image is worshipped as Śiva. Hatmura is a large village situated about 2 kms east of Bhangra More and I notice some late medieval brick temples, some intact and others damaged, in the Chatni Para area of this village. During our exploration in this area we also documented an image of Jain Yakṣiṇī Ambikā, now lying under a tree in the Soloana Durga Mandir complex (Pl.XIV.B). This image is regularly worshipped as a Brahmanical deity like the other sites. Some sculptural fragments especially assignable to the Jain pantheon have been noticed from the extreme end of the village Lalpur. These images were actually brought from the ruins of Telkupi. Among these sculptural remains we are able to identify the damaged image of Ambikā and Ṛṣabhanātha (Pl.XIV.C). The two villages Badra and Mangaldiha are not very far away from each another and these two villages are also close to Banda. I noticed two Jain antiquities from these two villages and most probably these antiquities were collected from the Banda area. A Jain aṣṭapādatīrtha image along with a Jain caumukha was notice from Badra village. In the centre of the Mangaldiha village there is a place for worship locally known sasthi tala where some other fragments of Jain sculptures are scattered. In this cluster the most important image is the image of Tīrthaṅkara Ṛṣabhanātha.

We have documented eighteen archaeological sites/settlements or “find spots” from the Bankura district, which contains Jain sculptural as well as architectural remains, unfortunately these remains lie under the trees or are placed at some unprotected places. Among these sites/settlements or “find spots” I noticed habitational remains from five places, they are Madanpur/Jaynagar, Namo Kechanda/Choto Kechanda, Chiada/Navachiada, Layek Para and Lakshmisagar.

An image of Tīrthaṅkara Mahāvira (Chattopadhyay 2010: 170) was reported from Madanpur/Jaynagar. The locality from where we documented this Tīrthaṅkara image is known as Kalbhairavtala (Pl.XIV.D). The area is scattered with potsherds of early medieval period and other types of objects of folk-cult such as terracotta elephants, horses, Manasāghats (Pots made for Manasā Pujā) etc. This place is now covered with dense jungles and the results of the present exploration ensure that this place bears the ruins of early medieval remains. Without excavation it is very difficult for us to understand the exact nature of this locality as well as the proper context of the Tīrthaṅkara image. On the north bank of the river Silavati the Namo Kechanda/Choto Kechanda village lies about 1km south of Govindapur. Local villager Dvijapada Tunga found a Tīrthaṅkara image along the river bank of the adjoining village (Ibid). Besides this image, during my field visit in this village we documented some archaeological ruins consisting of potsherds and other fragments of artefacts of late period. Chiada/Navachiada was a well known archaeological site located on the south bank of the Kumari river. Navachiada is the settlement which is shifted from old Chiada after the Kansavati reservoir inundated the old settlement. Krishnaswami (1959-60:50) and Mitra (1958:134)explored the old settlement of Chiada, which is at present submerged and according these reports they documented different archaeological ruins from this village along with some Jain Tīrthaṅkara images. The modern village Navachiada presently also contains some Jain images which may be collected from the old village (Chattopadhyay 2010: 163).

Layek Para is situated 5 kms east of Simlapal and we have a beautiful image of Tīrthaṅkara Pārśvanātha lying in the courtyard of the house of Shyam Dhamat Kundi Babu. Interestingly during our exploration we also recorded some low structural mound and some potteries scattered in the different localities of this village. These remains suggest that the modern village settled over the old habitational ruins. Ghotra is situated just 1km west of the Layek Para and a small image of Jain Śāsanadevī or Yakṣiṇī Ambikā along with other architectural remains are kept inside a modern temple situated in the Primary School complex. Though this particular find spot requires further investigation to get more supportive evidence to elucidate the actual context of the said sculptural remains and their association with Jainism, possibility for the existence of another Jain complex including Layak Para here cannot be ruled out altogether. In the village Lakshmisagar, which is situated under the Police Station Simlapal, we recorded a Jain image along with other sculptural remains. These sculptural remains are found from a place of local worship known as Rankinitala. This is an area full of old habitational remains. This site needs more detailed study.

We have documented only the Jain images from the remaining thirteen localities of this district. It is very unfortunate that we failed to trace the old habitational remains from these localities.

Salda is a fairly large village full of sculptural as well as architectural fragments. At the Basuli Mandir of this village a folk-deity known as Basuli along with an uncertain Tīrthaṅkara are worshipped. The upper portion of the Tīrthaṅkara image is visible while the lower part is buried under the earth (Chattopadhyay 2010: 167-8). An image of Tīrthaṅkara Ṛṣabhanātha, is notice in the village of Kotulpur. It is carelessly placed amidst a thick bamboo grove and worshipped as a Brahmanical deity, datable to tenth-twelfth centuries (Chattopadhyay 2010: 168-9). I also documented a highly abraded image of a Jain tutelary couple of greyish stone from this site which is presently worshipped in a house of this village. Earlier a miniature stone votive shrine of tenth century CE was reported (IAR 1983-84: 172) from the present site. Some stone images along with an image of Jain Tīrthaṅkara Mahāvira are kept under a pipal tree in the western side of the Bhagalpur village (Chattopadhyay 2010: 166-67). I also documented two badly damaged Jain aṣṭāpadatītha sculptures from this sculptural assemblage. The site needs more details as well as extensive survey to understand the religious nature of the site and its association with Jain ideology. Hat Asuria has yielded a stray find of a Jain votive shrine (caumukha) on a low mound at the eastern end of the village. The lower part of the finely executed specimen is buried under the earth (Chattopadhyay 2010: 158). In the Patashpur village we documented a stone sculpture of Tīrthaṅkara Ṛṣabhanātha (Chattopadhyay 2010: 156; Chattopadhyay, Ray & Majumder 2011-12 & 2012-13: 139), presently worshipped as a village deity (Gramdevata). The find spot of the image is surrounded by bamboo groves. Our general observation is that the image was installed during a later period and in all probability the specimen had been transported from some other place in its neighbourhood. During the present exploration in the village we noticed few potsherds and other habitational debris; however, we failed to trace any other evidence related to Jain religious establishments in the present village. At a central place of the Tiluri village, there is a heap of broken sculptures mainly associated with the Jain ideology (Pl.XIV.E). An image of Tīrthaṅkara Candraprabha has been recovered from this heap (ibid.). Besides these sculptural fragments we also recorded some unique decorated architectural fragments from this site. In the Balarampur village there is a place under a Bat tree known as Gajantala where a Śiva liṅga has been installed by the villagers. A heap of contemporary terracotta’s, viz. horses, elephants, Manasāghaṭs etc. are lying under the tree on a high platform. A careful scrutiny of the heap resulted in the discovery of a Jain votive shrine or caumukha (Ibid.). It is worshipped by the villagers as an image of Buddha. Jiorda is small village and towards the southern part of the village there is a place of worship known as Sakrasinitala, village-deity. In this place two sculptural fragments are kept and are being worshipped as the folk-divinity Sini by the local people (ibid.: 160). Among these two specimens one could be identified as the broken part of Tīrthaṅkara Pārśvanātha. An image of a Jain Tīrthaṅkara with his Śāsanadevī was reported by J.N. Bandyopadhyay, the former District Information Officer, Bankura from Sulgi village (Bandyopadhyay 1980: 535-538).

At the top of the Paresnath hill there is an open temple dedicated to lord Śiva. Besides the liṅga itself, a good number of sculptural remains including two images of Pārśvanātha are laying (Pl.XIV.F) in and around the Śiva temple (Chattopadhyay 2010: 162). All the specimens are said to have been collected from the neighboring places including the submerged temple site of Sarengarh. Ramnagar is a small locality and contains shrines of late period. Early medieval sculptural remains have been recorded from the house of a villager Kirthibhusan Singha Babu. These include two Jain images along with some other sculptural fragments. According to the villagers, in the past there were a good number of other architectural and sculptural specimens scattered over a modern temple site in the village. In the Ghotra village a small image of Jain Śāsanadevī or Yakṣiṇī Ambikā and other architectural remains are kept inside a modern temple situated in the Primary School complex.

A beautifully carved image of Mahāvira is noticed from the Alkadhara village. The village has some other find-spots which could be associated with ancient religious establishments (Chattopadhyay 2010: 167). This area demands further investigations.

Kaitara and Barakar, are the two archaeological sites/settlements or “find spots”, situated in the Asansol and Durgapur sub-divisions area of Burdwan and belong to this third group. During our exploration I have been able to document a Tīrthaṅkara sculpture along with some old habitational remains from Kaitara. Apart from this discovery a few BRW potsherds were also noticed in the flat mound named Burirdanga of this village. Barakar is famous for a group of temple complex (four in number) however, in the present exploration I have documented a highly abraded image of Ambikā, Yakṣī of Tīrthaṅkara Neminātha from the vicinity of the temple premises, close to the bank of a small pond. This image is still lying in this temple complex without its original context.

I have documented six archaeological sites/settlements from West Midnapur district which belong to group 3. The sites/settlements are Parihati, Hirapari, Tetulia Bhumjan, Lacchipur-Nepura, Kiyarchand and Sat Deula.

In recent survey at Parihati I have noticed a headless Tīrthaṅkara sculpture kept outside the modern temple of Rumkini and worshipped as a Brahmanical deity. Beside, this sculptural remain two other stone images (one male and one female) were also kept in this temple and according to the local villagers they collected these images from the different areas of this village. Significantly, while exploring the village of Parihati we collected a good number of potsherds including Black and Red Ware, habitational debris, eroded decomposed earth containing potsherds which altogether suggest that the genesis of settlement was primarily related to a Black and Red Ware associated one. Our short visit confirmed that human settlement started here with the Black and Red Ware associated EVF (Early Village Farming) phases. Again, on the basis of the earlier reports, the involvement of metal working groups cannot be ruled out. The presence of Jain images and the worship of Rumkini suggest the involvement of the Jain Sarāks who were by profession metal workers for generations and other metal working groups like the Lohārs and the Agarias during the early medieval period. A memorial stone has also been recorded from a locality near a tank locally known as Satasgera pond, 2 kms from the school complex.

Both the site Hirapari (Pl.XIV.G) and Tetulia Bhumjan exhibit some Jain sculptural remains along with old habitational remains including a few Black and Red Ware sherds.

An icon of Pārśvanātha is kept beneath a huge tamarind tree at Dhanyantarir Danga of the Lacchipur-Nepura area. A miniature Jain caumukha temple has been found from the nearby Kansai bed. Archaeologically this area is very much potential and we recorded some early medieval habitational remains from this area. Kiyarchand is another important archaeological site in this district and a large number of stone pillars possibly architectural members were recorded from this site earlier. In our recent survey we documented some fragmented pieces of Jain sculptural remains along with a Viṣṇu and a ten-armed female deity sculptures besides, some old habitational remains. A Jain caumukha along with black basalt Bhairava head were recovered from Sat Deula. In our recent exploration at this site we have noticed some low structural mounds scattered with large number of bricks and stone slabs.

Ghurisha, Mallarpur and Baragram are three sites/settlements situated in Birbhum district contain Jain antiquities. We have documented old habitational remains along with Jain sculptural remains from these sites. Among these three Baragram is very potential in connection with its sculptural heritage. We noticed Jain sculptural remains along with Buddhist and Brahmanical sculptural remains from this site (Pl.XIV.H). Interestingly in three cases Jain sculptural remains are worshiped as Brahmanical deities.

Hukrahat is the only archaeological site in Murshidabad district which can be included in this group. We have documented a headless Tīrthaṅkara image in dhyānasana posture kept in the southern part of this village and worshiped as a Brahmanical deity. In the different localities of this village some architectural remains have also been recorded.