Jaina Temples of West Bengal

SR No.: 269034
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: D R Das
Publisher: Z_Nirgrantha_1_022701.pdf and Nirgrantha_2_022702.pdf and Nirgrantha_3_022703.pdf
Publication Year: 2002
Total Pages: 31
Language: English
Classification: Article & Tirth
File Size: 3 MB

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118
D. R. Das
Nirgrantha
increasing popularity of Caitanyite Vaisnavism. One after another, the flourishing Jaina centres began to be deserted. Left to themselves, temples at these sites entered a process of disintegration and in course of time most of them collapsed. A few precariously surviving temples will also disappear unless anything is done for their conservation.
POSTSCRIPT The paper, written more than a decade ago, needs revision in view of certain new discoveries and the widening of the horizon of our knowledge during these years. Without attempting a thorough revision, some essential additions and alterations have been made here, avoiding of course much elaboration. 1. At Puchra (Burdwan District) stands a hitherto unnoticed stone temple once
enshrining an image of Rsabhanātha. The image still lies in front of the deserted temple. A few images of other Jaina divinities are preserved in two collections at the village. The temple concerned is an amorphous structure awaiting the day of
its ultimate collapse. Details and date of this shapeless pile cannot be ascertained. 2. The abandoned brick temple at Sat Deuliya (Burdwan District) (Pt. XVII) was
undoubtedly a Jaina shrine as the site yielded several images affiliated to that religion. On the other hand, no Brahmanical image as yet have been discovered at the place. The temple is pañcaratha on plan. The lower part of its bada, though damaged, never had displayed the päbhāga. In this section, however, the wall is divided into two talas by a bandhanā moulding. The entablature is marked by a number of outstepped string courses. The gandi, is a ponderous structure divided into bhūmi stages by rightangled bhumi-āmalakas. The carved bricks, finished with stucco plaster, liberally textured the body of the gandi. Extensive damage, peeling off the plaster and invasion by moss have reduced this exquisite example of brick architecture into a hapless wreck. The pañcaratha plan, rightangled bhūmiamalakas and heaviness of form make the Sat Deuliya temple one of the earliest of its kind in Bengal. However, the triangular door-opening, bandhanā in the bada and entablature with several string courses are features of the post-tenth century
period. 3. Circumstantial evidence tends to prove that the Siddheśvara temple at Bahulara
(Bankura District) was not a Brahmanical shrine. The site is pre-dominantly Jaina. The image of Rsabhanātha inside the temple was in all likelihood its original
presiding deity. Beglar (op. cit., p. 202 and Pls. VII & XVIII) has left a short account with a couple of illustrations of the Siddheśvara. The saptaratha groundplan with the rathas segmented into sub-rathas, päbhāga composed of six, mostly hybridized, mouldings, the bandhanā dividing the järgha into two talas, baranda showing double cornice between bold and heavy mouldings, presence of angaśikharas on the gandi which possesses a