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JAIN JOURNAL
Jaina Sculpture
For a pilgrim looking for iconoplastic art of the Nirgranthas, relevant sculptures of much significance are being preserved in the Indian Museum, the Ashutosh Museum of Indian Art, the State Archaeological Gallery of West Bengal and the Vangiya Sahitya Parishad in Calcutta and in the Varendra Research Society (Rajshahi). Valuable Jaina sculptures also belong to the collection of Puran Chand Nahar at the Ashutosh Museum. The collection of Kalidas Dutta of Jayanagar-Majilpur presented to the State Archaeological Gallery also includes valuable examples of Jaina sculpture.
Besides the architecture of Purulia which must have been stimulated by the activity of the Nirgranthas mention may be made of the brick temple of Sat-Deuliya near Memari in Burdwan district which is closely associated with Jaina relics. The curvilinear turret of the temple at Sat-Deuliya reminds one of an architectural developments ranging from the Orissa prototype at Barakar.
The fall of the Pala empire and subsequent political and cultural vicissitudes hastened the decay of Jainism in Bengal. In the medieval period the religion was again introduced in the region by new immigrants from western India. Still there are some relics of ancient ideology and faith which have been traced not only in the religion of the Saraks of the western highlands, but also in the mystic cults of the Avadhuts recalling a theme of the Acārānga Sūtra.
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