Jainism in Odisha (Orissa)
by Ashis Ranjan Sahoo | 2015 | 106,639 words
This essay studies the presence of Jainism in Odisha or Orissa by documenting the Art, Architecture and Iconography of Jaina images, relics, structures and establishments from different districts. In Odisha, archaeological evidences show how Jainism flourished during the 1st century BCE during the reign of emperor Kharavela, stating that Jainism wa...
Archaeological importance of Charampa, Bhadrak
Charampa is a big village situated near the Bhadrak railway station. The village yielded a hoard of Jaina images and from where Odisha State Museum collected four Jaina sculptures viz., Risabhanatha, Ajitanatha, Santinatha and Mahavira. Even today an image of Parsvanatha as Kharakhia Thakurani is worshipped as Gramadevati under a banyan tree near Rahania tank in Barala-pokhari area. The potsherds are collected from the embankment of the pond where a Parsvanatha image is still in worshiping by the villagers as Bramhanical deity.
The potsherd are described as follows-
1. Fragment of a short vertical neck bulbous jar of grey ware with an out turned flanged rim and concave neck, of medium fabric with semi oxidized greyish core.
2. Fragment of a jar of stone with slightly incurved featureless rim and oblique sides of coarse fabric, handmade with polished surface at the inner side.
3. Fragment of a bulbous storage jar of grey ware with a short out turned rim, of medium fabric and showing semi-oxidized with greyish core.
4. Fragment of a vase of grey ware with slightly out turned rim, of medium fabric and showing semi-oxidized with greyish core.
5. Fragment of a low necked bulbous storage jar of red ware with an out turned featureless rim, of coarse fabric and semi-oxidized with reddish core.