For an example of a temple-town, once in all her glory and playing all important role in history and now in ruins, there could be no better instance in Bihar than Benusagar, a village in Singhbhum district. Benusagar, now a hamlet with age-old relies, jungles, bushes and snakes, is situated seven miles south from Majgaon by road, in the extreme south-west of the Kolhan area and on the border of Singhbhum district in Bihar and Mayurbhanj district in Orissa.
The village takes its name after a large tank to the north of the village. The tank is evidently ancient and is now silted up with weeds. There is a small island in the middle of the tank, which is covered with shrub and jungle; but it is this island which once had a number of temples and throbbed with life and pilgrims. There are a number of low mounds of brick marking the ruins of several old temples and a number of beautifully sculptured images lying half buried in the ground. According to local tradition, the tank was excavated and Raja Benu, son of Raja Keshna of Keshnagarh, built a fort round the township.
The ruins with ancient relies had attracted the attention of Col. Tickell, one of the earliest British administrators of Singhbhum district. He visited the place in 1840 and has left the following account of the place:
"In Aula pir, to the far south, a few Kols at of the poorest kind have built a wretched, straggling hamlet near the banks of what once was a truly magnificent tank. It is called Benusagar, and is said to have been built by one Raja Benu, who fled from the place owing to the incursions of the Mahrattas. This was probably during the days of the celebrated Murari Rao; for judging by the trees which now luxuriate amidst the buildings, the place must have been deserted and in ruins full 200 years ago.
The tank, which I placed as well as the jungle allowed me, is about 600 yards square. On the east bank are the remains of a handsome stone ghat; the west side may be similar, but was inaccessible bv reason of thickets. On the summit of the ample bandh or embankment, surrounding the water, lie stones richly carved? It is probable that they once constituted small temple ranged around. In the centre of the tank does a temple crown an island, now almost a shapeless mass.
On the south-east corner of the tank are the debris of a garhi or small fort, which appears to have been a parallelogram of about 300 by 150 yards, enclosed by a massy wall with towers at the corners. In the centre are two sunken platforms, with stone steps descending into them, in which lie idols in all stages of decay; some of these were buried many feet under a loose reddish soil having the appearance of decayed bark.
Three of the best preserved of these I took away, with the help of some Nagpur Dhangars, not one of the people of the country daring to touch them. About 300 yards to the south of the garhi is another mound of hillock of broken bricks, which I was told was the office of the Raja.To the west of this, and all along the bank of the tank, the plain now covered with jungle- grass, and here and there cultivated with gora dhan or highland rice by the Kols, is scattered with bricks, showing that a substantial town or bazaar must have existed here."
Tickell was neither an archaeologist nor an iconographist. The Archaeological Department had deputed Mr. Beglar who, after a close inspection, ascribed the origin of the temples to the Seventh century A.D. A part of his observations may be quoted: "The sculptures that exist are entirely Brahmanical with two exceptions.
The exceptions are small naked figure which, from its evident resemblance t Jaina figures, I take to be Jaina; and a seated figure, Wit the hands in the attitude of teaching, resembling: figure of Buddha and, like many of them, with his head covered by little curls. That this figure is Buddhist, its general re semblance to figures of Buddha inMagadh lead me to believe; still there is nothing impossible in its being Jaina With these two exceptions, all the figures are Brahmanical and almost exclusively Saivic, Ganesh, Kali,Mahisasuri Devi etc., fragments of these being frequent.
A remarkable piece of sculpture, of curious and excellent execution and very spirited design, represents the forepart of an elephant elaborately ornamented. The elephant is kneeling, and evidently formed either a pedestal of a figure or projected from the plinth near the entrance of some one of the numerous temples, in a manner similar to the projecting figures of elephants in other parts of India. The excellence of execution and design of this piece of sculpture entitles it to a place in any museum."
It is extremely unfortunate that, since Beglar wrote, there has been a further deterioration of the sculpture and many of the images are said to have disappeared. Benusagar and its surrounding area had once evidently played a very great role in the history of Jainism, Buddhism and Brahmanism. The low mounds of bricks found at Benusagar are obviously stupas so well-known in Jain and Buddhistic shrines.
Incidentally, it may be mentioned that there are a large number of stupas in the neighboring villages of Keshnagarh, Ruam and Itapukri. These -various places had or still have a number of ancient relies. Ruam has some old remains of a moat, tanks and an accumulation of ancient copper slag and all these indicate a township at one time.
About Ruam, L. S.S. O'Malley, the author of the old Singhbhum district gazetteer mentions: "It contains some remains which probably mark a former settlement of the Sravakas or lay Jains, though local tradition ascribes them to a Rajah called Ruam who is said to have a fort here. " O'Malley is probably not -wrong, as Jainism had struck deep roots in Singhbhum along with Manbhum (now Purulia district).Singhbhum borders Kalinga (Orissa). There was active trade and commerce and a constant passage of pilgrims between Kalinga and these areas and the road to Kalinga passed through this region. Singhbhum was also included in the empire of Kharavela, the great Jain Emperor of Orissa.
Mahavira Vardhamana, the 24thTirthankara of Jainism, had passed through this area, visiting places in Manbhum and Singhbhum, district and then going to Orissa. Mahavira went to Kalinga, as the king of Kalinga was a friend of his father. An old Jain work, the Haribhadriya-Virtti, mentions this The Emperor Kharavela's famous Hathigumpha inscription has a reference to Gorathagiri (Barabar hills in Gaya), Rajagriha (Rajgir in Patna), and the Gangetic plains of Pataliputra.
The route from Kalinga to Magadha, where Gorathagiri, Rajagriha, and Pataliputra were situated, ran through the Singhbhum district. Singhbhum has been referred to in the Jaina treatise of Achranga-Sutra, along with references to the neighboring areas known as Vajjabhumi. Jainism had spread from Bihar to Kalinga through Singhbhum and it is not surprising as we find relies of Jainism scattered in Manbhum and Singhbhum districts. Emperor Asoka was a great patron of Buddhism but he was not unsympathetic or 'bigoted towards Jainism.
It can be readily said that during his time there was no active interference with Jaina Munis or Jaina temples. Some of the periods of history relating to the area where Benusagar is located are shrouded in the dark. It is, however, well-known that in the Seventh century A.D. of the Christian era, one Sasanka ruled over this territory. A seal of Sasanka has been found engraved on the hill of Rohtasgarh. Two copper plate records of Sasanka's reign, found at Midnapore, establish that this area too was under his control. Ganjam plates of Madhavaraja Il, dated 61920 A.D., mention hini as Maharajadhiraja, that is, the suzerain lord of Ganjam.
From all these data it would be safe to assume that Sasanka had his rule extended from Rohtasgarh to Ganjam in the early half of the Seventh century A. D. and that Singhbhum must have been included within his empire. There is a tradition at Kichang, six miles away from Benusagar in the Keonjhar district of Orissa, that the king named Sasanka built the temples of Benusagar. This Sasanka lost his realm to the combined attack of Harsha and his ally Bhaskaravarman, of Kamarupa.
Most of the antiquities at Benusagar could be said to belong to the Pala period. The Bhanjas of Orissa, who split into several branches, also used to assume indepen- dence over some principalities or other whenever any chance occurred. At one time they ruled over a very extensive area in Kalinga (Orissa) and the border tracts of Bengal and Bihar. It is possible that some time or other some of the Bhanja kings had also controlled or ruled Singhbhum district.
This is indicated by the similarity in the sculpture of the antiquities found in several villages of Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and other districts in Orissa and this part of Bihar as in the case of the Benusagar relies. Benusagar must also have had the impact of the invasion of Rajendra Chola the Great, in the 10th century A.D. of the Christian era. Rajendra Chola invaded Orissa and lower Bengal and presumably must have gone through Singhbhum district and the neighboring districts of Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar, which were once feudatory states.
Later, Mahipala I of the Pala dynasty established the second Pala empire in which this area, too, was included. Regarding this the revised District Gazetteer of Singhbhum mentions:
"This is confirmed by the mention of the various feudatories who helped Ramapala, a descendant of Mahipala 1, in crushing the Kaivartta rebellion in Bengal; and in establishing the third Pala Empire. The Ramacharita of Sandhyakaranandi gives a list of loyal feudatory princes; and: amongst these, is mentioned Lakshmisur of Aparamandara, who is described as the head of the group of feudatory chiefs of all the forest countries; and whose territory was in the neighborhood of that of Surapala, ruler of Kujabati, which is about 14 miles north of Naya Dumka in the Santal Parganas and Rudra-Sikhara, ruler of Tailakampa (Telkupi in the 'Manbhum district). All these show that Lakshmisur headed all the Mankis in the forest tract. He was possibly the medieval chief Manki, a caste that was prevalent in the Chota- nagpur division during the advent of the British rule in Bihar. It is also possible that his territories included Singhbhum."
The medieval remains at Benusagar and, as a matter of fact, the remains throughout Singhbhum district, have witnessed a checkered history through the ages. Not withstanding the remote location of Benusagar in an area inhabited by the aboriginal tribes, both Tickell and Beglar had done well in visiting the places. Beglar had visited it twice in 1840 and 1875. The place has since been declared protected under the Ancient Monuments Preservations Act (Act VIII) of 1904.
Now a number of archaeological remains have been collected in a particular spot known as Devasthan on the eastern embankment of Benusagar. Devasthain is of recent origin. Its consists of a low enclosure constructed with disjecta from ruined temples and thatched houses. In this enclosed area, and in its proximity, quite a number of stone images have been kept. Some of them are complete and the others are damaged. There are eight phallic emblems of Siva and the foundations of four temples, with their remains scattered round them. The building materials were bricks and two kinds of stones : chlorite and laterite.
The devasthan occupies disjecta member testify to the place, where the collected disject member testify to the existence of at least four structures, excluding those which still lie buried under the ground. There are small brick mounds to the north and the south of this devasthan; these mounds probably mark the sties of ancient temples. The present dak bungalow standing on the southern side of the tank has also been erected on this site of a temple.
Ample evidence, therefore, exists to conclude that the area round about the tank possesses ruins of several temples, of which none is surviving to our time, though signs of iconoclastic vandalism are absent. In the absence of large-scale excavations, the exact number of structures cannot now be determined. There are eight phallic symbols of Mahadeva, which suggest the existence of eight separate temples. The other miscellaneous images found in the devasthan area were either decorative elements of the fanes or those originally enshrined in the side niches of the temples.
The Revised District Gazetteer of Singhbhum mentioned :
"The available evidence, therefore, makes it quite clear that Benusagar was a place of worship for the Saivas, possibly a place of Ashta-Sambhu. That the number of Sambhus might have been increased infinitely in later times is also probable. In medieval eastern India, a practice has grown up to establish places of worship, with eight phallic emblems of Siva- Mahadeva; and several places shared this feature with Benusagar.
These are Bhuvaneswar in Orissa, Kiching in the Mayurbhanj district, a place only five miles to the south of Benusagar,Khekparta near Lohardaga in the district of Ranchi. Since none of the temples have survived, it is difficult to opine about the style of temple architecture that was prevalent at Benusagar; but, the examples of such places as Kiching and Ranipur-Jural possibly indicate that they followed the Nagara style of temples.
Hypothetically, we may be permitted to assume that the temples at Benusagar belong to the distant epochs. The first between 8th or 9th century A.D., when the Palas under Dharmapala and Devapala established the Pala Empire from Kanauj up to the sea coast; and the second from 10th to 11th century A.D., when the second Pala Empire was established by Mahipala I.
According to tradition, Raja Benu, son of Raja Keshna of Keshnagarh, excavated the tank of Benusagar. Keshnagarh with the ruins of a fort was visited by Mr. Beglar but no object of special interest isreported to have been found by him" *
The village takes its name after a large tank to the north of the village. The tank is evidently ancient and is now silted up with weeds. There is a small island in the middle of the tank, which is covered with shrub and jungle; but it is this island which once had a number of temples and throbbed with life and pilgrims. There are a number of low mounds of brick marking the ruins of several old temples and a number of beautifully sculptured images lying half buried in the ground. According to local tradition, the tank was excavated and Raja Benu, son of Raja Keshna of Keshnagarh, built a fort round the township.
The ruins with ancient relies had attracted the attention of Col. Tickell, one of the earliest British administrators of Singhbhum district. He visited the place in 1840 and has left the following account of the place:
"In Aula pir, to the far south, a few Kols at of the poorest kind have built a wretched, straggling hamlet near the banks of what once was a truly magnificent tank. It is called Benusagar, and is said to have been built by one Raja Benu, who fled from the place owing to the incursions of the Mahrattas. This was probably during the days of the celebrated Murari Rao; for judging by the trees which now luxuriate amidst the buildings, the place must have been deserted and in ruins full 200 years ago.
The tank, which I placed as well as the jungle allowed me, is about 600 yards square. On the east bank are the remains of a handsome stone ghat; the west side may be similar, but was inaccessible bv reason of thickets. On the summit of the ample bandh or embankment, surrounding the water, lie stones richly carved? It is probable that they once constituted small temple ranged around. In the centre of the tank does a temple crown an island, now almost a shapeless mass.
On the south-east corner of the tank are the debris of a garhi or small fort, which appears to have been a parallelogram of about 300 by 150 yards, enclosed by a massy wall with towers at the corners. In the centre are two sunken platforms, with stone steps descending into them, in which lie idols in all stages of decay; some of these were buried many feet under a loose reddish soil having the appearance of decayed bark.
Three of the best preserved of these I took away, with the help of some Nagpur Dhangars, not one of the people of the country daring to touch them. About 300 yards to the south of the garhi is another mound of hillock of broken bricks, which I was told was the office of the Raja.To the west of this, and all along the bank of the tank, the plain now covered with jungle- grass, and here and there cultivated with gora dhan or highland rice by the Kols, is scattered with bricks, showing that a substantial town or bazaar must have existed here."
Tickell was neither an archaeologist nor an iconographist. The Archaeological Department had deputed Mr. Beglar who, after a close inspection, ascribed the origin of the temples to the Seventh century A.D. A part of his observations may be quoted: "The sculptures that exist are entirely Brahmanical with two exceptions.
The exceptions are small naked figure which, from its evident resemblance t Jaina figures, I take to be Jaina; and a seated figure, Wit the hands in the attitude of teaching, resembling: figure of Buddha and, like many of them, with his head covered by little curls. That this figure is Buddhist, its general re semblance to figures of Buddha inMagadh lead me to believe; still there is nothing impossible in its being Jaina With these two exceptions, all the figures are Brahmanical and almost exclusively Saivic, Ganesh, Kali,Mahisasuri Devi etc., fragments of these being frequent.
A remarkable piece of sculpture, of curious and excellent execution and very spirited design, represents the forepart of an elephant elaborately ornamented. The elephant is kneeling, and evidently formed either a pedestal of a figure or projected from the plinth near the entrance of some one of the numerous temples, in a manner similar to the projecting figures of elephants in other parts of India. The excellence of execution and design of this piece of sculpture entitles it to a place in any museum."
It is extremely unfortunate that, since Beglar wrote, there has been a further deterioration of the sculpture and many of the images are said to have disappeared. Benusagar and its surrounding area had once evidently played a very great role in the history of Jainism, Buddhism and Brahmanism. The low mounds of bricks found at Benusagar are obviously stupas so well-known in Jain and Buddhistic shrines.
Incidentally, it may be mentioned that there are a large number of stupas in the neighboring villages of Keshnagarh, Ruam and Itapukri. These -various places had or still have a number of ancient relies. Ruam has some old remains of a moat, tanks and an accumulation of ancient copper slag and all these indicate a township at one time.
About Ruam, L. S.S. O'Malley, the author of the old Singhbhum district gazetteer mentions: "It contains some remains which probably mark a former settlement of the Sravakas or lay Jains, though local tradition ascribes them to a Rajah called Ruam who is said to have a fort here. " O'Malley is probably not -wrong, as Jainism had struck deep roots in Singhbhum along with Manbhum (now Purulia district).Singhbhum borders Kalinga (Orissa). There was active trade and commerce and a constant passage of pilgrims between Kalinga and these areas and the road to Kalinga passed through this region. Singhbhum was also included in the empire of Kharavela, the great Jain Emperor of Orissa.
Mahavira Vardhamana, the 24thTirthankara of Jainism, had passed through this area, visiting places in Manbhum and Singhbhum, district and then going to Orissa. Mahavira went to Kalinga, as the king of Kalinga was a friend of his father. An old Jain work, the Haribhadriya-Virtti, mentions this The Emperor Kharavela's famous Hathigumpha inscription has a reference to Gorathagiri (Barabar hills in Gaya), Rajagriha (Rajgir in Patna), and the Gangetic plains of Pataliputra.
The route from Kalinga to Magadha, where Gorathagiri, Rajagriha, and Pataliputra were situated, ran through the Singhbhum district. Singhbhum has been referred to in the Jaina treatise of Achranga-Sutra, along with references to the neighboring areas known as Vajjabhumi. Jainism had spread from Bihar to Kalinga through Singhbhum and it is not surprising as we find relies of Jainism scattered in Manbhum and Singhbhum districts. Emperor Asoka was a great patron of Buddhism but he was not unsympathetic or 'bigoted towards Jainism.
It can be readily said that during his time there was no active interference with Jaina Munis or Jaina temples. Some of the periods of history relating to the area where Benusagar is located are shrouded in the dark. It is, however, well-known that in the Seventh century A.D. of the Christian era, one Sasanka ruled over this territory. A seal of Sasanka has been found engraved on the hill of Rohtasgarh. Two copper plate records of Sasanka's reign, found at Midnapore, establish that this area too was under his control. Ganjam plates of Madhavaraja Il, dated 61920 A.D., mention hini as Maharajadhiraja, that is, the suzerain lord of Ganjam.
From all these data it would be safe to assume that Sasanka had his rule extended from Rohtasgarh to Ganjam in the early half of the Seventh century A. D. and that Singhbhum must have been included within his empire. There is a tradition at Kichang, six miles away from Benusagar in the Keonjhar district of Orissa, that the king named Sasanka built the temples of Benusagar. This Sasanka lost his realm to the combined attack of Harsha and his ally Bhaskaravarman, of Kamarupa.
Most of the antiquities at Benusagar could be said to belong to the Pala period. The Bhanjas of Orissa, who split into several branches, also used to assume indepen- dence over some principalities or other whenever any chance occurred. At one time they ruled over a very extensive area in Kalinga (Orissa) and the border tracts of Bengal and Bihar. It is possible that some time or other some of the Bhanja kings had also controlled or ruled Singhbhum district.
This is indicated by the similarity in the sculpture of the antiquities found in several villages of Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and other districts in Orissa and this part of Bihar as in the case of the Benusagar relies. Benusagar must also have had the impact of the invasion of Rajendra Chola the Great, in the 10th century A.D. of the Christian era. Rajendra Chola invaded Orissa and lower Bengal and presumably must have gone through Singhbhum district and the neighboring districts of Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar, which were once feudatory states.
Later, Mahipala I of the Pala dynasty established the second Pala empire in which this area, too, was included. Regarding this the revised District Gazetteer of Singhbhum mentions:
"This is confirmed by the mention of the various feudatories who helped Ramapala, a descendant of Mahipala 1, in crushing the Kaivartta rebellion in Bengal; and in establishing the third Pala Empire. The Ramacharita of Sandhyakaranandi gives a list of loyal feudatory princes; and: amongst these, is mentioned Lakshmisur of Aparamandara, who is described as the head of the group of feudatory chiefs of all the forest countries; and whose territory was in the neighborhood of that of Surapala, ruler of Kujabati, which is about 14 miles north of Naya Dumka in the Santal Parganas and Rudra-Sikhara, ruler of Tailakampa (Telkupi in the 'Manbhum district). All these show that Lakshmisur headed all the Mankis in the forest tract. He was possibly the medieval chief Manki, a caste that was prevalent in the Chota- nagpur division during the advent of the British rule in Bihar. It is also possible that his territories included Singhbhum."
The medieval remains at Benusagar and, as a matter of fact, the remains throughout Singhbhum district, have witnessed a checkered history through the ages. Not withstanding the remote location of Benusagar in an area inhabited by the aboriginal tribes, both Tickell and Beglar had done well in visiting the places. Beglar had visited it twice in 1840 and 1875. The place has since been declared protected under the Ancient Monuments Preservations Act (Act VIII) of 1904.
Now a number of archaeological remains have been collected in a particular spot known as Devasthan on the eastern embankment of Benusagar. Devasthain is of recent origin. Its consists of a low enclosure constructed with disjecta from ruined temples and thatched houses. In this enclosed area, and in its proximity, quite a number of stone images have been kept. Some of them are complete and the others are damaged. There are eight phallic emblems of Siva and the foundations of four temples, with their remains scattered round them. The building materials were bricks and two kinds of stones : chlorite and laterite.
The devasthan occupies disjecta member testify to the place, where the collected disject member testify to the existence of at least four structures, excluding those which still lie buried under the ground. There are small brick mounds to the north and the south of this devasthan; these mounds probably mark the sties of ancient temples. The present dak bungalow standing on the southern side of the tank has also been erected on this site of a temple.
Ample evidence, therefore, exists to conclude that the area round about the tank possesses ruins of several temples, of which none is surviving to our time, though signs of iconoclastic vandalism are absent. In the absence of large-scale excavations, the exact number of structures cannot now be determined. There are eight phallic symbols of Mahadeva, which suggest the existence of eight separate temples. The other miscellaneous images found in the devasthan area were either decorative elements of the fanes or those originally enshrined in the side niches of the temples.
The Revised District Gazetteer of Singhbhum mentioned :
"The available evidence, therefore, makes it quite clear that Benusagar was a place of worship for the Saivas, possibly a place of Ashta-Sambhu. That the number of Sambhus might have been increased infinitely in later times is also probable. In medieval eastern India, a practice has grown up to establish places of worship, with eight phallic emblems of Siva- Mahadeva; and several places shared this feature with Benusagar.
These are Bhuvaneswar in Orissa, Kiching in the Mayurbhanj district, a place only five miles to the south of Benusagar,Khekparta near Lohardaga in the district of Ranchi. Since none of the temples have survived, it is difficult to opine about the style of temple architecture that was prevalent at Benusagar; but, the examples of such places as Kiching and Ranipur-Jural possibly indicate that they followed the Nagara style of temples.
Hypothetically, we may be permitted to assume that the temples at Benusagar belong to the distant epochs. The first between 8th or 9th century A.D., when the Palas under Dharmapala and Devapala established the Pala Empire from Kanauj up to the sea coast; and the second from 10th to 11th century A.D., when the second Pala Empire was established by Mahipala I.
According to tradition, Raja Benu, son of Raja Keshna of Keshnagarh, excavated the tank of Benusagar. Keshnagarh with the ruins of a fort was visited by Mr. Beglar but no object of special interest isreported to have been found by him" *
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