Jainism was once a popular religion in ancient Kalinga or modern-day Odisha. It is believed that Parsvanath, the 23rd Tirthankar (religious leader) of Jainism and Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankar, had preached at several places in Kalinga.
Many historians are of the view that King Kharavela, one of the powerful rulers of Kalinga, had also patronised Jainism during his reign around 1st century BC. Over the years, many Jain heritage sites have been identified in several districts of Odisha, including in Khurda, Cuttack, Puri, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Jajpur and Kendrapara. The sculptures and inscriptions of Khandagiri-Udayagiri hills in Bhubaneswar also vindicate Odisha’s link with Jainism.
Even, a Jain heritage museum has been set up at Pratapanagari near Cuttack to preserve ancient Jain sculptures recovered from the locality. According to villagers, at least seven Jain sculptures were found during the digging of Kakatpur branch canal in the 1970s.
Subsequently, another nine sculptures related to Jainism were recovered from the agricultural fields in the locality. Initially, all these sculptures were placed under a banyan tree near Goddess Dhakulei temple, located close to Kuakhai river. Later, the sculptures were taken to a few community halls of the village, locals said.
“Somehow, members of the Jain community came to know about the sculptures. The Jains urged the villagers to hand over the figures to them. However, the locals refused to part with the ancient figures. The tussle over the sculptures led to the establishment of a Jain heritage museum at Pratapanagari,” narrated several villagers including Mihir Kumar Rout.
The museum was set up with allocation from both the Centre and the state government. Members of the Jain community in Cuttack have been looking after the museum since its inauguration in 2005, sources said.
The museum has 12 sculptures of Rishabhanatha, the 1st among the 24 Jain Tirthankaras, Parsvanatha, Mahavira, Ambika and Gomedha. Most of these sculptures date back to 9th and 10th century AD.
“Perhaps, there was a Jain temple on the bank of Kuakhai river. The temple might have been demolished by natural calamities or attack from hostile forces. The sculptures or idols found from the locality had been carved from Muguni pathara (black stone),” said retired teacher Basudeb Rout.
It is learnt that Jain people from across Odisha and other states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bengal and Bihar often visit the museum to have a look at the ancient sculptures. “We used to get around 10-15 visitors daily. The footfall has come down drastically due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Sridhar Biswal who has been engaged to look after the museum.
Despite being the storehouse of several Jain sculptures, the museum has been deprived of proper maintenance and infrastructure. “The museum is yet to have drinking water, toilet and other facilities for the visitors. The authorities concerned should take appropriate steps to attract more visitors to the museum,” said a shopkeeper of the locality.
Priyaranjan Swain, OP