The paper attempts to discuss the interrelationship between Archaeology and History as well as Ic... more The paper attempts to discuss the interrelationship between Archaeology and History as well as Iconography and History. Icons/images of the past are also considered as a part of Archaeology but Iconography has a distinct place. Image sculpture, on the other hand, enjoys a special position for its aesthetic value and it is an integral part of Art History too. Image sculpture caters two disciplines, religion and art history, although the scholarly boundary often gets blurred. This paper tries to underscore with examples that image sculpture, with inscription or without inscription, may become an important source for historical information especially if the topic belongs to early medieval India. To elaborate the point two areas of this period are selected. The first is the long stretch from Begusarai to Lakhisarai in south Bihar and the next, the northern part of Bengal, when it remained as a combined unit of land.
The subject of this essay is constituted by two image inscriptions where the expression ‘Samasta ... more The subject of this essay is constituted by two image inscriptions where the expression ‘Samasta Mahisā-Varga’ implying collectiveness is found. Both were published but the expression has not been appreciated with due importance and historical perspective. The two image inscriptions have offered us a kind of practical demonstration of the way the local societies had been integrated in the Brāhmaṇical cultural fold. It resonates a process in which ‘cult appropriation’ has been underscored as a strong mechanism for such transition from early historical to early medieval India. Cult figures from image sculptures along with the information from the inscriptions on them could have provided direct evidence in support of the point and even made it stronger as well as dependable. The main aim of this essay is to focus on the transforming process of a people we got to know from two image inscriptions, next it would discuss on a cult evolved out of snake goddesses followed by the conclusive remarks.
Koṭivarṣa, a sacred place and an administrative unit that is mentioned in early medieval Indian r... more Koṭivarṣa, a sacred place and an administrative unit that is mentioned in early medieval Indian religious and epigraphic sources from 700 to 1200 ce, is the area of focus of this essay. As an administrative unit, it was almost coterminous with the old Dinajpur district of Bengal, which is now divided into the present Indian state of West Bengal and Bangladesh. At one point in time, its headquarters came to be known as Devīkoṭa, underscoring its rise as a prime place for Devī, the Mother goddess. Sculptural arrays of the Mother goddess from this place point to the domineering presence of her fearsome principles; they parallel textual descriptions about the sacred importance of a wrathful form of the Mother, normally referred to as Cāmuṇḍā. The religious texts, however, do not speak of the ascetics who might have performed the rituals to propitiate the Mother. We do not yet know if any new dimension was added to the corpus of rituals, and the Śiva-Śakti power equation after the Saiddhāntika Śaiva preceptors affiliated with Golagī great monastery of Durvāsas lineage entered Devīkoṭa at the end of the tenth century. This essay searches for answers in the visual elements on the lower registers of stone steles, such as the devotees/donors, other individuals in the service of the Mother Goddess, potfuls of offerings, and the environment of cremation grounds in which worship took place. The main deity and associated figures occupying the larger space in the middle of the steles have tantric content. Icons of Śaiva ascetics from West Bengal, including the three newly discovered examples, are important subjects for this essay, which concludes with the transformation of Devīkoṭa to Bangarh, where Śiva emerged as the chief god par excellence. The Devī had lost her koṭa, her bastion, forever.
Early Indian History and Beyond: Essays in Honour of B.D. Chattopadhyaya, 2019
The article is a result of a search for an answer as why the god Gopīnātha, a form of Kṛṣṇa, left... more The article is a result of a search for an answer as why the god Gopīnātha, a form of Kṛṣṇa, left the famous temple town Bishnupur, a centre of neo-Vaiṣṇavism of medieval Bengal, and came to reside far away in an anonymous small town in the south-eastern part of Rajasthan. With him came a Bengali Brahmin as the custodian priest. The distance of the two points was about fifteen hundred kilometres. The event had its root in the first half of the eighteenth century that came to the fore as the query brought one after other linkages embedded in religion, polity and pride. The story had a larger background involving the interplay of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism of Vrindavan, the royal members of Amber Kachavāhā family, a subordinate Rajput king of Shekhawat family in Sikar and a Malla king. The search reveals the extent of the influence of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism in a remote part of Rajasthan.
Only a small segment of the 2500 odd stone and bronze icons from the Pāla period North Bengal bea... more Only a small segment of the 2500 odd stone and bronze icons from the Pāla period North Bengal bears inscription. Texts which have some implications for society are discussed here.
The book reconstructs the history of a land named Puṇḍravardhana, an eponym of Puṇḍra, a group of... more The book reconstructs the history of a land named Puṇḍravardhana, an eponym of Puṇḍra, a group of people who resided in the northern part of Bengal. Situated to the east of the Ganga and directly connected with the Tista on the north, the Puṇḍras could communicate with their western, northern and eastern neighbours through the riverine routes. The book covers a long period connecting several turns in the temporal and cultural history of the period with varying outcomes. The advancing stages of archaeological excavations and material remains reveals adaptive processes between the local bodies and organized administrative machinery of varying denominations, synthesis of ideas and concepts, riser of local deities, local aspirations, social formations and monetization. The early medieval period marks a phase of excellence in cultural life and heralded some significant changes in society.
The paper attempts to discuss the interrelationship between Archaeology and History as well as Ic... more The paper attempts to discuss the interrelationship between Archaeology and History as well as Iconography and History. Icons/images of the past are also considered as a part of Archaeology but Iconography has a distinct place. Image sculpture, on the other hand, enjoys a special position for its aesthetic value and it is an integral part of Art History too. Image sculpture caters two disciplines, religion and art history, although the scholarly boundary often gets blurred. This paper tries to underscore with examples that image sculpture, with inscription or without inscription, may become an important source for historical information especially if the topic belongs to early medieval India. To elaborate the point two areas of this period are selected. The first is the long stretch from Begusarai to Lakhisarai in south Bihar and the next, the northern part of Bengal, when it remained as a combined unit of land.
The subject of this essay is constituted by two image inscriptions where the expression ‘Samasta ... more The subject of this essay is constituted by two image inscriptions where the expression ‘Samasta Mahisā-Varga’ implying collectiveness is found. Both were published but the expression has not been appreciated with due importance and historical perspective. The two image inscriptions have offered us a kind of practical demonstration of the way the local societies had been integrated in the Brāhmaṇical cultural fold. It resonates a process in which ‘cult appropriation’ has been underscored as a strong mechanism for such transition from early historical to early medieval India. Cult figures from image sculptures along with the information from the inscriptions on them could have provided direct evidence in support of the point and even made it stronger as well as dependable. The main aim of this essay is to focus on the transforming process of a people we got to know from two image inscriptions, next it would discuss on a cult evolved out of snake goddesses followed by the conclusive remarks.
Koṭivarṣa, a sacred place and an administrative unit that is mentioned in early medieval Indian r... more Koṭivarṣa, a sacred place and an administrative unit that is mentioned in early medieval Indian religious and epigraphic sources from 700 to 1200 ce, is the area of focus of this essay. As an administrative unit, it was almost coterminous with the old Dinajpur district of Bengal, which is now divided into the present Indian state of West Bengal and Bangladesh. At one point in time, its headquarters came to be known as Devīkoṭa, underscoring its rise as a prime place for Devī, the Mother goddess. Sculptural arrays of the Mother goddess from this place point to the domineering presence of her fearsome principles; they parallel textual descriptions about the sacred importance of a wrathful form of the Mother, normally referred to as Cāmuṇḍā. The religious texts, however, do not speak of the ascetics who might have performed the rituals to propitiate the Mother. We do not yet know if any new dimension was added to the corpus of rituals, and the Śiva-Śakti power equation after the Saiddhāntika Śaiva preceptors affiliated with Golagī great monastery of Durvāsas lineage entered Devīkoṭa at the end of the tenth century. This essay searches for answers in the visual elements on the lower registers of stone steles, such as the devotees/donors, other individuals in the service of the Mother Goddess, potfuls of offerings, and the environment of cremation grounds in which worship took place. The main deity and associated figures occupying the larger space in the middle of the steles have tantric content. Icons of Śaiva ascetics from West Bengal, including the three newly discovered examples, are important subjects for this essay, which concludes with the transformation of Devīkoṭa to Bangarh, where Śiva emerged as the chief god par excellence. The Devī had lost her koṭa, her bastion, forever.
Early Indian History and Beyond: Essays in Honour of B.D. Chattopadhyaya, 2019
The article is a result of a search for an answer as why the god Gopīnātha, a form of Kṛṣṇa, left... more The article is a result of a search for an answer as why the god Gopīnātha, a form of Kṛṣṇa, left the famous temple town Bishnupur, a centre of neo-Vaiṣṇavism of medieval Bengal, and came to reside far away in an anonymous small town in the south-eastern part of Rajasthan. With him came a Bengali Brahmin as the custodian priest. The distance of the two points was about fifteen hundred kilometres. The event had its root in the first half of the eighteenth century that came to the fore as the query brought one after other linkages embedded in religion, polity and pride. The story had a larger background involving the interplay of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism of Vrindavan, the royal members of Amber Kachavāhā family, a subordinate Rajput king of Shekhawat family in Sikar and a Malla king. The search reveals the extent of the influence of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism in a remote part of Rajasthan.
Only a small segment of the 2500 odd stone and bronze icons from the Pāla period North Bengal bea... more Only a small segment of the 2500 odd stone and bronze icons from the Pāla period North Bengal bears inscription. Texts which have some implications for society are discussed here.
The book reconstructs the history of a land named Puṇḍravardhana, an eponym of Puṇḍra, a group of... more The book reconstructs the history of a land named Puṇḍravardhana, an eponym of Puṇḍra, a group of people who resided in the northern part of Bengal. Situated to the east of the Ganga and directly connected with the Tista on the north, the Puṇḍras could communicate with their western, northern and eastern neighbours through the riverine routes. The book covers a long period connecting several turns in the temporal and cultural history of the period with varying outcomes. The advancing stages of archaeological excavations and material remains reveals adaptive processes between the local bodies and organized administrative machinery of varying denominations, synthesis of ideas and concepts, riser of local deities, local aspirations, social formations and monetization. The early medieval period marks a phase of excellence in cultural life and heralded some significant changes in society.
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