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OCTOBER, 1966
Probably because the Jaina images, many of which are still unbroken, are lying exposed under trees or on sites which were once temples, very little attention has been paid to them. The cluster of images that the writer saw at various parts of the district in neglected spots remind one as to what a commotion would have been made had they been discovered as a result of a digging. As no state protection has been given, they have been freely utilised on the walls of private houses or temples. Manbhum offers a rich field for research into the evolution of Jainism in this area, its relationship with orthodox Hinduism, Saivism and Vaisnavism. A number of inscriptions on the pedestals of some of the images have been found. They have not yet been properly deciphered or studied. A proper study of the inscriptions and the images supported by some excavations in well identified area of Jaina culture will no doubt throw a good deal of light on the history of culture in this part of the country extending over two thousand years.
-P. C. Roy Chaudhury, Jaina Antiquities in Manbhum', Amrita Bazar Patrika, Annual Puja Number, 1956.
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