Sultanganj
Sultanganj is a town in Bhagalpur district, and has a railway station of the
same name on the loop-line of the Eastern Railway running from Kolkata to Kiul.
An excellent all-weather road connecting Bhagalpur with Munger and Patna also
serves it. It has a cosmopolitan population. It is a flourishing business place and
there are a number of schools and colleges.
Sultanganj is a place of rich antiquity. It is traditionally associated with the
sage Jahnu, whose ashram was a centre of learning and culture. Jahnu Muni's
ashram was located on the rock jutting out of the bed of the Ganga river.
Now the site has the Shiva temple of Ajgaivinath, also known as Gaibinath
Mahadeo. legend has it that the river Ganga on her way to the ocean interrupted the Muni in his meditation by the rush of her currents. The sage swallowed
the river in a gulp. |
Bhagiratha intervened and the Muni again let the Ganga out by making an
incision in his thigh. That is why the river Ganga is also called Jahnavi (relating to
thigh).
like many of the ancient temples, the origin of Ajgaivinath temple is also
shrouded in mystery. According to one legend, lord Shiva was given his bow
here, known as Ajgav, and so the place came to be known as Ajgaivinath. The
ancient name of the place was Jahangira, which was derived from the name of Jahnu Muni.
Jahangira is a distorted form of Jahnugiri (the hill of Jahnu) or Jahnu griha
(the abode of Jahnu). Jahangira is now a small village forming a part of the town
of Sultanganj.
It is commonly said that Kala Pahar, in the course of his crusade, against the
Hindu temples, visited the place. He tried his best but failed to demolish
Ajgaivinath temple. He however, destroyed the 'Parvati temple on the neighbouring hill, and built a mosque there. Formerly the hill was much bigger and more spacious.
This part of the Ganga witnesses service floods with very strong currents almost every year
nd the decaying granite rocks of the hill are being slowly worn away.
Traditionally 'Sultanganj formed, a part of the great Anga state. In the days of the
Mahabharat, Karna, the 'sixth brother' of the five Pandavas, ruled in Anga. The capital of Anga
vvas Champa. Champa is the present Champa nagar, situated three miles to the west of
Bhagalpur.KingKarna had his castles at Champa (modern Champanagar) and Jahnugiri (mod-
ern sultanganj).
At present Champa nagar, the site of Karna's castle, is well known as Karnagarh. Karnagarh
is practicallya part of Bhagalpur town now.
Some scholars have associated the large plateau of Karnagarh in Bhagalpur, where there
are still ramparts of a fort, with one of the famous pre-Buddhist forts. The site had several bastions and ditches. When the British took over, the area was selected for housing the Hill
Rangers, a body of troops raised from among the Santhals of Rajmahal hills.
For some time this was the HQ of the wing of an Indian regiment and slowly the bastions
have disappeared although the ditches are still there. The State Constable Training School now
mainlyoccupies the plateau.
Karnagarh area of Sultanganj, which had King Karna's castle, is also a large plateau. It is
now called Krishnagarh, after the name of a zamindar of the branch of Raj Banaili, by the name
of Kumar Krishna nand Singh,who built a large residential structure on the site. Sultanganj was
lso famous during the rule of the Pala and Sena kings (from 730 ADto 1199 AD).
It is said that Dharmapala, the first king of the Pala dynasty, had laid the foundation of
Vikramshila University at Sultanganj. There is no doubt that during the Pala and Sena kings,Sultanganj area was bestowed with a number of fine works of art and architecture. Numerous
an Cient finds like seals, coins, terracotta and images have been discovered in Sultanganj.
A bronze Buddha idol, now in the Birmingham Museum, is probably the best known relic
discovered in Sultanganj. This bronze idol is a fine piece of metallic sculpture, which has drawn
the admiration of the world. The idol is characterized by delicacy of design and ornamental
detail.
The Murli Hill of Sultanganj situated just on the bank of the Ganga, from where one has
to take a boat to visit the Ajgaivinath temple, is also a place of antiquity. It contains a Gupta
inscription and a number of Hindu and Buddhist images. There are large stone slabs and other
relics to show that there were temples as well on this hill. Now the hill has got a mosque at its
summit, which is ascribed to Ikhtiyar Muhammad Khilji, son of Bakhtiyar Khilji. Ikhtiyar
Muhammad Khilji is said to be the fanatic who had destroyed Nalanda and Vikramshila universities towards the close of the 12th century AD.
Sultanganj also came under the influence of the Jains. The 23rd and 24th Tirthankars had
visited Champa nagar or Bhagalpur. Champa nagar had been visited by Lord Mahavir several
times and it is recorded that he had spent three rainy seasons there.
Champa nagar was also the birthplace of Birja-Jina and another Jain scholar, Palakpaya
Muni, the author of Hasti Ayurveda, an elaborate account of the ailments of elephants.
Champa nagar is also the birthplace of the 12th Jain Tirthankar Basupujya. At Nathnagar, adjacent to Champanagar, there is a Jain temple of the Digambaras dedicated to Basupujya.
It is somewhat unlikely that Sultanganj, being so close to Champa nagar, would not have
come under the Jain influence in some way or other. Rather it could be suggested that if excavations are still carried out at some of the well known sites at Sultanganj, Jain relics might be
discovered.
Under Dharmapala, the son of Gopala, the frontier of the Anga empire touched the west
of the Sone River. Dharmapala was a great Buddhist and a patron of education and culture.
He is supposed to have founded Vikramshila Vihara on a hillock on the bank of the Ganga
in northern Magadha. Cunningham had identified Vikramshila Vihara with the village of Silao
near Baragaon.
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