Jalaj Kumar Tiwari

Juafardih is situated 2.5 km west from world heritage site Nalanda in Bihar state of India.It has been excavated in 2006-07 by Archaeological Survey of India and revealed three fold cultures.In the paper an attempt has been made to study a rare copper ceremonial axe found from excavation and to discuss its antiquity and importance.

Brahma is one of the most influential members of the Brahamanical pantheon.He is specially associated with the act of creation in the Hindu's concept of trinity. In Bihar , independent images of Brahma are comparatively less than Vaisnavite, Saivite and Surya images. Only few images of Brahma reported from Bihar. The aim of the paper is to discuss the art and iconography of Brahma images found from Bihar.

The aim of the paper is tracing the history of the wine and wine pots on the basis of literary and archaeological evidences. Even though wine drinking was popular in social occasions , wine addiction was always condemned in ancient literature and social laws.

Village Deo Barunarak is popularly known as Deo located in Tarari block of Bhojpur district of Bihar state.The archaeological remains at the site contain brick temples, architectural members and numerous stone sculptures of immense archaeological importance.In the present paper intends to discuss art and iconography of notable stone sculptures kept in the modern temples of the village.

Archaeological site Juafardih is situated 3 km west from world heritage site Nalanda in block Silao, district Nalanda.The site extend to about 105 m east-west and 100m north-south. It has been excavated by A.S.I. in year 2006-07 . Excavation revealed three fold cultural sequence and a stupa originally built in N.B.P. period which may be identified as stupa of Moudgalyayan and site as a Kolika mentioned in Buddhist literature.

Bifacial images are extremely rare in Pala art.Carving of deities on both sides of stone slab termed as Bifacial images. The image under discussion from Mahrawan is unique for its kind. In the slab Visnu carved on one side and Uma Mahesvara carved on reverse side.It shows the synthesis between Vaisnavism and Saivism.

Surya enjoys an important status from the remote past. Depiction of Surya found in sculptural art from Sunga period and continued to medieval period in context of Bihar and reached to zenith in Pala period. The aim of the paper is discussing the iconographic features and its uniqueness of the syncretic images of Surya in the art of Bihar.

Village Daman-Khanda is situated 1 km north from world heritage site Nalanda. The excavation at Nalanda was conducted by Archaeological Survey of India in the year 2007-08. The paper dealt with its importance and relation with ancient Nalanda University.

Wells have been used as a stable source of water since the ancient times. Mithila region situated at northern part of Bihar state of India and some tarai region of Nepal. An attempt is made here antiquity, types, construction and threat regarding ancient wells in Mithila region of Northern Bihar.

Hanu Bhairava is a tantric composite representation of Hanuman and Bhairava. It was popular in Nepal and Himalaya hill kingdoms of north India in late medieval period. Its images mainly found in Nepal. Hanu Bhairava image from Mangrauni is the only known example from Bihar. Thus this image has great iconographical and religious significance.

Paper deals with the beads found during archaeological excavation at Kolhua a famous Buddhist site in district Muzaffarpur (Bihar) during field seasons in 1989 to 1993. These beads from Kolhua throws the light on socio religious and economic aspects of Vaishali.

A Fairly good number of inscribed material are found in South Bihar.During the course of exploration as well as visit of different museums in Bihar. An attempt is made here to discuss the iconographic features of the images and contents of the inscriptions.

Simhanada Lokesvara is one of the most popular forms of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara regarded as the curer of all diseases. Paper is dealt with the images of Simhanada Lokesvara found in different parts of Bihar. It also discussed the art, iconography and distribution of these images.

Famous Buddhist site Kolhua (district Muzaffarpur, Bihar) is best known for Asokan pillar, stupa, markat hrada (monkey tank), remains of monasteries and votive stupa complex etc. It is situated about 5 km northwest of mound Raja vishal ka Garh(identified as ancient Vaishali city). The place finds mention in the Chinese account of Fa-hien and Xuan Zang in connection with Buddha's activity. According to Buddhist texts Buddha visited Vaishali at so many times and had delivered his last sermon at Kolhua and announced his parinirvana. Archaeological excavations also throw the light on various aspects of the site. During archaeological excavations in years 1991-93, four copper coins have been recovered from the site Kolhua, district Muzaffarpur (Bihar). Such type of coins have not been reported from earlier excavations from Vaishali. Thus, these coins throw the light on the historical and economic aspect of site as well as of Vaishali region.

Gaya Museum has a good collection of rare and priceless stone sculptures of Gaya district.The paper deals with two bifacial images displayed in Gaya Museum, Bihar.Both images made of basalt stone and belong to Pala period,which throws the light on syncretic art and religious history of Bihar region.

Ancient Rajagriha has enjoyed the status of capital of powerful Magadha kingdom from epic period to fifth century BC.Jainism in Rajgir region through the ages on the basis of literary and Archaeological evidences is dealt with in the paper.

Sadaksari Lokesvara is a specific form of Lokesvara in the Mahayana Buddhist pantheon. Paper dealt with the art and Iconography of Sadaksari Lokesvara images discovered across Bihar .It also aims to discussion the distribution, regional variations and socio religious perspectives of these images.

Paper deals with the results of Archaeological excavations at the site Chandimau which is situated in Nalanda district of Bihar.The results of excavations with the literary data suggest that the site was a flourishing art centre of Pala period.

Village Ghosrawan is known for its Buddhist vestiges of Pala period. It is only 13 km away from Nalanda, which was a great centre of learning and art activities in early medieval period. Pala School of art flourished in the Bihar and Bengal from 8 th to 13 th centuries A.D. and it is exemplified by their fine sculptures, noted for their sensuous grace and dignity and few of them may be considered as rare art specimens of India. Carving of deities on both sides of stone slab termed as bifacial images. Bifacial images are extremely rare in Pala art. Only a few images of Surya-Narayana reported from Bihar under this category. In these sculptures Surya is depicted on one side and Visnu on reverse side. The image under discussion from Ghosrawan is unique for its kind. In the sculpture Uma-Mahesvara carved on one side and Visnu carved on reverse side, shows the synthesis of Siva and Visnu. It may consider second variety of syncretic image after Surya-Naryana in bifacial sculptures category. Thus recently noticed image from Ghosrawan not only rare of its kind but also throw the light on the development of syncretism, tolerance among the various sects of Hinduism and religious history of Nalanda region.

Vaishali was an ancient city of India.The paper deals with the history of toilet in India and a rare terracotta toilet pan discovered from Vaishali, which throw the light on socio economic history of Vaishali. It does not only show the sense of hygienic consciousness but also the sanitary engineering skill of the then people.

Trailokya Vijaya is an important tantric deity of the Vajrayana form of Buddhism. The word Trailokya Vijaya made of three words i.e. trai (three), loka (world) and vijaya (conqueror) symbolizing the conqueror of the three worlds. He has terrible appearance and awe inspiring. He shows his superiority over Siva and Parvati who are the popular deities of Brahmanical pantheon. He has been shown as trampling upon the prostrate figure of Siva and Parvati. Images of TrailokyaVijaya are extremely rare in India. Only few image of this deity has been reported from India. Recently noticed image of Trailokya Vijaya from Jethian throws light on the popularity of deity as well as study of tantrism in India.

Visnu, Siva and Surya are the principal deities of Brahmanical pantheon. They are worshipped individually as well as syncretic forms and they have their own cults also. The syncretic image of Visnu Siva and Surya may be termed as Harihararka and this composite form emphasizes the reconciliation among the three major cults of Vaisnava, Saiva and Saura. Images of Harihararka in Indian art are extremely rare. Recently an image of Hariharaka has been noticed by the author in Chandradhari Museum which is wrongly identified as Visnu or Surya. The image under discussion has great iconographical significance which proves the innovative skills of sculptor and communal harmony in the Bihar region. It is also helpful to understand the development of Brahmanical syncretic art in the Bihar. It is the only known specimen of Harihararka in eastern India and in Pala art.

Vaishali was one of the oldest and largest cities of India with an immense wealth of rich traditions and historical legends. The ruins of ancient city Vaishali at present falling under the jurisdiction of two districts of north Bihar viz. Vaishali and Muzaffarpur This area under the confederacy of Vajji with its capital of Vaishali, regarded as world oldest democracy. Vaishali was considered very important and was highly regarded due to its association with the life events of the Buddha. It stood on the royal ancient road leading from Pataliputra to Lumbini. Various archaeological excavation carried out by A.S.I. and other agencies and ancient remains from N.B.P. period to Post Gupta period has been unearthed in various locations in the ancient Vaishali region. A good number and variety of beads ranging from N.B.P. culture to early historic period have been preserved in Archaeological Museum Vaishali among them zoomorphic stone beads are highly interesting. These are in various shapes including tortoise, elephant, bird, cock, frog and hare. Some unfinished broken stone beads in the shape of peacock, fish, bird and insect are also found in Vaishali which suggest that these beads were manufactured locally, and lapidary art was very developed in Vaishali. The aim of the present paper is providing a brief glimpse of zoomorphic stone beads with its features and importance. These zoomorphic stone beads not only testified the aesthetic sense and craftsmanship of people of Vaishali but also throw the light on the religious aspect of bygone society.