Jain Journal 1984 04

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 16

APRIL, 1984
Ganges and is now placed in a new temple built in the same locality by the Nahar family. It appears, however, from a footnote that the image was brought from Chitor, evidently by the Nahar family or somebody else in the Muslim or British period.24 It does not therefore give us any information about the condition of Jainism in Bengal. It is significant however, that no other inscription in Bengal in Nahar collection is older than the 15th century A.D.
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We may therefore reasonably conclude that the naked Nirgrantha sect gradually declined in Bengal after the 7th or 8th century A.D. As this coincides with the rise of the Imperial Palas who were Buddhist and ruled over Bengal for nearly four hundred years, from the middle of the 8th to the first part of the 12th century A.D. it is not unreasonable to connect the two events. In other words, one might reasonably suppose that the popularity of Buddhism, due to the patronage of the Pala kings, was the main cause of the decline of Jainism in Bengal. It is not a little strange that not only are the Jaina images of this period exceedingly rare, offering a striking contrast to the numerous images of Buddhist and Brahmanical cults, but the numerous inscriptions in Bengal belonging to this period, and even later, do not contain any reference to Jainism. It has been suggested that the naked Nirgranthas in Bengal were merged in such religious communities as Avadhutas who flourished towards the end of the Pala period. It is interesting to note that a class of the Avadhutas is actually known as Digambaras (naked).
There are many rich and distinguished Jaina families in Bengal today, but they are all descended from the Jainas immigrating from the western parts of India during the Muslim period.
24 Jaina Inscriptions, collected and compiled by Puran Chand Nahar (Calcutta, 1918).