Today’s Paschimanchal
covering major parts of Bankura, entire Purulia and other areas representing a backward tract was totally different thousand years back. It was a territory of abundance,
wealth & trade – obviously it was Purbachal ( leading). In earlier days the western-south portion
of present State was called Ladha or
Radha. It is coded that Lord Mahavir- the 24th Tirthankar moved through the region before pre-kevalin .
Thereafter, many Jains routed through Radha-lands . Their
pathways have been mentioned by Fai-hen, Hung-sen as well as Belgar during
nineteenth century. However, i shall restrict here to Ambikanagar in
Khatra referring to the influence of Jainism.
Ananta Varman Choda-Ganga Dev (1087 AD) the powerful king of
Odisha extended his kingdom in entire south west of Bengal upto the boundary of
Bhagirathi. The king set up his second kingdom at Ambikanagar. Ambikanagar is a
small village in Khatra sub-division of Bankura district. Dev was an ardent follower of Jainism. Under
royal patronage Jainism spread in
western part of Bengal. Moreover, the wealthy Jain communities used to navigate
the region easily through navigable river
routes. Jains have had left imprints of their presence in the banks
of Damodar, Kasai . Ambikanagar is also on the bank of Kasai. The relics of Jain temple and the statue of Mahabir witnesses the history of Jainism
there. The statue is of Digambar (naked).
Near to Ambikanagar, there is Pareshnath pahar (Hill)-a tourist spot of
Mukutmonipur. There also lie two images of thirthankar. These relics are
believed to be built in between 11th -12th century AD.
In course of time, the Dev-decendants became followers of
Brahmanical sects. Ambikarnagar began to deviate from Jainism. The monumental
temples remained uncared. Surprisingly, Mahavir became a part of Hinduism. At
Ambikanagar, Mahavir is worshiped as
Shiva. Similarly, at Pareshnath Hill we see both Shiva Linga & Mahavir on
the same platform.
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