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Survival and continuity of folk culture amidst Jain remains in Purulia district of West Bengal (India)

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dc.contributor.author Bajpai, L.M.
dc.date.accessioned 2017-03-02T06:51:05Z
dc.date.available 2017-03-02T06:51:05Z
dc.date.issued 2017
dc.identifier.citation Bajpai, Lopamudra Maitra 2017. Survival and continuity of folk culture amidst Jain remains in Purulia district of West Bengal (India). International Conference on Buddhism and Jainism in Early Historic Asia, 16th – 17th February 2017, Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. p 50. en_US
dc.identifier.isbn 978-955-704-025-7
dc.identifier.uri http://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/16628
dc.description.abstract The paper is an attempt to highlight the survival of folk traditions, rites, rituals and festivals amidst the many Jain historical remains in Purulia district of West Bengal (India). The region saw an important assimilation of ideas across last two thousand years- resulting in the survival of many Jain icons (Tirthankara idols in blackstone). However, this very essence of survival also highlights an assimilation of religious thought processes- giving rise to a distinctive individuality in present times. This identity in turn has provided a platform for the survival of a unique folk identity- which also has helped to retain a significant aspect of the historicity of the region. Innumerable Jain icons of Tirthankaras (dating variously between 5th-9thcentury CE) are worshipped variously as folk deities (including both male and female) with varied names. Each one of them- holds a special place amidst the village it is situated within (or the nearby villages) and are revered by the people as most are also considered as the gramdevata (presiding village deity). Sometimes these festivals, rites and rituals of the deities also attract people from outside the district of Purulia as well. With very less work of a continuous documentation in the region- the historicity of these idols are difficult to be traced across a continued historical path, however, the cultural identities and other ethnographic studies of the region highlights significant information about the survival of these Jain remains. Based on an extensive ethnoarchaeological study of the region- this paper attempts to highlight this pattern of survival in present times that reflects a unique assimilation of thought processes. en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka en_US
dc.title Survival and continuity of folk culture amidst Jain remains in Purulia district of West Bengal (India) en_US
dc.type Article en_US


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