Emergence of Temple Centered Society in Early Bihar

Abstract

In the early medieval economic and social circumstances religious centers developed in Bihar, which further led to the construction of temples by the rulers as well as by the locally powerful communities. It must be noted that these temples were not as gigantic or of great artistic value either as compared to the Buddhist monasteries of contemporary Bihar. The reason behind this was probably the fact that the Buddhist monasteries were built by the state or supported directly by them as well as patronized by the rich business community. On the contrary, few of the Brahamanical structures were getting these advantages and they were having support of the local followers. From the various excavation and exploration reports by archaeologists, temple structures of this period have been reported very often. But the ancient historiography of Bihar obsessed with the Buddhist, Jaina and other heterodox monuments, has tended to just ignore it. The question why such a large number of temples came up during this period, which is spread over the whole of modern Bihar, particularly near the important Buddhist sites, was never posed. Moreover, the question why the Pala rulers who were known for their Buddhist inclination later extended critical support to Brahmans has also remained unaddressed.