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Development & Impact of Jainism in India & Abroad
The position is very much clear also from an inscriptional reference of 7th century AD which informs about the gift of a land to a Jain monk named Ekasata Prabuddha Chandra by Sailodhhava king Dharmaraja. The donation not only shows the idea of religious tolerance during that period, but also that Jain acaryas were respected in the then society very much.
Jainism remained a living religion in Odisa in the 10th-11th centuries A D and there are several inscriptional evidences in its support .24 The various archaeological findings of different parts of the state support the view of Jain scholars that Jain religion was reestablished in Odisa during the 8th-9th centuries A D. Though the existence of Jainism in various parts of this region is traced up to 11th-12th centuries AD, it is a fact that soon after this period, its glory and power started declining. It gradually became less popular and with the rise of new sects, like Vaisnavism and Jagannatha followers, the growth and spread of Jainism was checked and this religion almost fainted on the religious scene of Odisa.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES AND EXCAVATIONS :
Though Odisa has not produced a large number of Jain antiquities compared to its neighboring states like Bihar, Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, but it does not mean that Jainism lacked popularity and importance in this part of India. Recent excavations and surface findings have revealed several Jain antiquities and icons of different Tirthankaras as well as their their sasana devis and devatas. Mostly, these things have been recovered from the areas of Jajpur, nanadanpur and Bhairava Singhpur in Koraput region. Besides, the areas of Kuonjhar and Mayurbhanja have produced several images of Rsabha, Parsva and Mahavira. At Bhimpur village in Mayurbhanj, there have been kept two images of Mahavira, which are worshipped as Hindu gods.25
A place called Podasinghigadi, which is eight kilometers away from Kuonjhar has produced numerous statues of Jinas as well as several statues of yaksa and yaksinis. 26 Images of Jain Tirthankaras recovered from Champapur village in the Balasora district have been preserved in the Orissa state museum.27 From Badashahi of Mayurbhanj, a caumukh has been recovered. From Kosali a very old statue of Parsva is found with four more images on both of its side. In the same area, statues of Parsva from Vaiyada, Mahavira from Ranibandha, Bhimpur and Vardhamanapur and other Jain antiquities from Bhadeshwar, Kiching and Adipur have been discovered, but their antiquity is yet to be fixed. At Champagram and Auspur in Baleswar area, Jain statues have been located, while such images have also been found at Kodasidi of Anandpur subdivision of Kuonjhar district.28
Several Jain antiquities of 8th-9th centuries have been brought in light from Puri and Cuttuck. In Cuttuck, there is a Digambara Jain temple in the Choudhary Bazar, in which several Jain statues have been kept, some of which seem to be as old as 10th-11th centuries A D 29. At Puri, in the main Puri temple, a statue of about one feet is placed in the outer wall of the south main gate. It is believed that this is the statue, which was brought back from Magadha by Kalinga king Kharavela. Besides, ruins of some Jain temples have also been located there.30 The Bhubaneshwar cave was perhaps an abode of the Jainas, as sculptures of Jain nature are found
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