| Temples & Legends Of Bihar |
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| Temples & Legends Of
India |
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BENUSAGAR |
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| 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. |
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