Jaina Antiquities in Bhadrak District (Introduction)

Bhadrak district is an ancient land noted for puranic legends, maritime activities, agrarian prosperity, flourishing trade and commerce. This district has also a rich cultural heritage and history from the hoary past. According to legends, it also derives its name from the Goddess Bhadrakali, the temple stands on the banks of the river Salandi. The earliest inscription about the district traced back to the 3^rd century CE, shows that the present Bhadrakali temple was popularly known as “Parnadevati” at that time^[1]. The district is also named after the town of Bhadrak, which is the district headquarters. Bhadrak, the administrative district of Odisha came into existence on 1^st April 1993 after bifurcation of the Balasore district. This district is bounded by Balasore district on the north, Jajpur district and the river Baitarani on the south, Keonjhar district on the west and Bay of Bengal and Kendrapara district are on the east. The district is located between latitude 20⁰ 43' to 21⁰ 13' and longitude 86⁰ 16' to 87⁰ 05' and extends over an area of 2505 sq.km. It ranks 27^th among the districts of Odisha in size. The district is divided into three zones according to its soil condition namely saline soil, alluvial soil and sandy soil. Geography of Bhadrak district is divided into two well-designed tracks and these are the salt tracks along the coasts which are not arable and the arable track, which is called the granary of the state. A number of deltaic seasonal rivers namely Salandi, Baitarani, Kansabansa, Gamol, Mantei, Genguti, Kochila, Reba and Kapali pass through the district. The antiquity of Bhadrak is eloquently confirmed by the Buddhist, Jaina and Brahmanical remnants discovered in the district^[2].

As like Buddhism and Brahmanism, Jainism was also traced here from very early times as evidenced by the sculptural remains have been found in the different part of the district.