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Rupendra Kumar Chattopadhyay: Jaina Antiquities
sculptural remains, all of which were contextually documented. The first author had also not provided a detailed survey of the above sculptural remains in his publication on Bankura. The present explorations confirmed that all the Jaina sculptures found from this village itself, the structural mound associated with a religious centre, secular habitational remains and above all the diverse population groups of this village, all these factors can be linked with the spread of the Jaina ideology. Our results impressed us to identify Satpatta as one of the major Jaina centres along the Kansavati valley. We have earlier mentioned that there were other Jaina associated localities likes Ambikanagar, Chitgiri, Barkola and Kechanda etc. not far way from Satpatta. Therefore, it may not be unwise to say that this particular village was a part of the overall spead and development of Jaina beliefs and practices in this southwestern part of the district of Bankura. Stylistically, all the sculptures discussed above, are assignable to a period starting from the 10th century AD to the 13th century AD. What is noteworthy, is the fact that stylistically, the Jaina deities are of a slender disposition and this form of depiction was especially popular in the Jaina images (datable to 10th-13th centuries AD) found from Purulia and various sites in western Orissa. Secondly, the pronounced and aggravated architectural motifs either resembling the outlines of a pidha deul or otherwise (almost dominating the available space of the stele except that occupied by the mulanāyaka) is consistently discernible in the icons of this region. Jaina images found from other sites of Bankura (including the Vishnupur region") are stylistically different from the Jaina images found from the Kumari-Kansavati valley.
9.
Chattopadhyay, R.K., S. Ray and S. Majumder., 'In Search of the Jaina Identity'. A Study of the Sculptural Remains of the Vishnupur Region', published in the forthcoming issue of Journal of Indian Society of Oriental Art.
