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Thanks for sharing. Insightful read 👍👍
The island otherwise was mentioned as having overgrown jungle and traversed only by rough paths.
In the absence of much information on the site in several books that I could refer, I also made searches on the internet, where I came across an interesting YouTube video in which a regional scholar had suggested the possibility of the site having been the Allakappa of Bullis in Buddhist History, wherein lay buried one of the initial eight parts of the Buddha’s holy relics. The scholar highlighted the need for a proper archaeological excavation of the site to fully verify the historicity.
Other articles available on the internet mostly dealt with the unique ecological habitat of the region and some vaguely mentioned the history of the temple as being from the Pala times and renovated in 15th century AD by Oinwar families of Mithila. With all this background knowledge, after a long gap since the 1992 visit, I reached Jaimanglagarh on 26th March, 2016, accompanied by Mr. Kundan, associated with the G. D. College, who informed that several Sunga-Kushan, Gupta and Pala age relics recovered from the site were on display at the Begusarai district museum and at the College Museum, which included coinage, pottery and statues of Buddhist and Hindu deities along with other antiquities. As I entered the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, I firstly offered my prayers at the historic black stone image of Goddess Jaimangla, only a portion of which was visible, being covered with sets of decorative items and clothes. The main priest was present inside the small enclosure having only one entry door, with the dark interior lit only by a small lamp. As I came out of the temple, I could notice some fragments seemingly from the ancient temple structure in the near vicinity, including an ornamental pillar of black stone.
To be continued.....