Nearly 15 years ago, an ancient Bishnu statue was broken to pieces while being transported to the Guimet Museum in France. Another Bishnu sculpture featuring a similar style has been found in an old water reservoir in Tighor village of Sarail upazila in Brahmanbaria district.
Iconologists and archaeologists believe that the art form of the Tighor Bishnu statue discovered two years ago is at least 1,500 years old.
The Bishnu statue that was broken when it was being taken to the Guimet Museum was made of clay, while the newly found Tighor Bishnu is a wood curved one.
Highlighting the historical importance of the discovery, senior iconographer and former director of the Department of Archaeology (DoA) Md Mosharraf Hossain says that it may imply that there was a custom of making wooden statues before the stone statues were made in East Bengal.
The Tighor sculpture is believed to be one of the oldest statues found in east and south Bengal. Scholars, however, differ on the exact period of the statue’s origin. Some call it an example of Gupta art but others argue that it is from the Kushan era.
But irrespective of the era it is from, archaeologists say the statue is a testament to the existence of a prosperous settlement in the Sarail region at least 1,500 years ago. It is changing some of the prevailing concepts of the ancient history of Bangladesh and adding new layers to it.
Iconologists and archaeologists concur that the Tighor Bishnu statue will play an important role in re-reading ancient Bangladesh’s history, especially south and east Bengal.
Two more ancient stone Bishnu statues were found in Sarail. The 8th century ‘Bishnu statue with Dasavatar’ is preserved at Anandamoyi Kalibari in Sarail upazila headquarters, while the other one, believed to be from the 12th-13th century, has been kept at a Kali temple in Kalikachh Union of Sarail.
What do iconologists say?
A photo of the Tighor Bishnu statue was sent to Dr Gerd JR Mevissen, a German specialist in ancient Indian art, architecture and iconography, for his opinion. In a return email, he noted that this wooden statue looked quite old and reminded him of some other ancient Bishnu sculptures found in Bangladesh that are mentioned in a 2014 article by Gouriswar Bhattacharya.
In his ‘A Magnificent Gupta Terracotta Vasudeva-Bishnu image from the David Nalin Collections’, Gouriswar, a world-renowned expert in the study of ancient Bengal iconography, wrote about the Gupta era statues found in Bengal. The article was published in the book ‘Changing Forms and Cultural Identity Religious and Secular Iconographies Vol 1 South Asian archeology and art’ in 2014 from Belgium.
He gives a detailed account of the ancient statue that was broken while being taken to the Guimet Museum.
The Bishnu statue found at Rajkpur in Bogura and kept in the Bangladesh National Museum was selected for exhibition at Guimet. On December 22, 2007, the Rajkpur Bishnu statue was stolen from the tarmac of Shahjalal International Airport while being taken to France. Later on December 28, some broken pieces of it were recovered.
Scholars also differ on the date of the clay statue of Vasudeva-Bishnu found at Rajakpur. Some consider it to be from the 3rd-4th century but some say it is from the sixth-seventh century. The length of the statue is 70 cm, width 36 cm and girth 14.5 cm.
Dr Claudine Bautze-Picron, a renowned Bangladesh and Eastern India iconography expert, was sent photos of the Tighor Bishnu statue for observations and her comments.
In her email, she said that this statue shared similarities with the sculpture that went missing as well as the ‘lion-shaped Bishnu’ icon found in India’s Bhagalpur.
How was it found and where is it now?
The wooden Bishnu statue was found in a huge water reservoir known as Tighor Dighi in Tighor village of Panishwar union in Sarail upazila. It was found on April 6, 2022, during the excavation of Tighor Dighi (Dighi refers to a large pond or water reservoir). It was unearthed from the south-eastern part by a backhoe, a machine used for excavation.
On receiving the news, Sarail police took custody of the statue and registered a general diary that day. At the directive of Brahmanbaria Judicial Magistrate’s Court, the local police handed it over to the Department of Archaeology on May 31, 2023.
Ancient architecture, especially inscriptions and statues, is being researched by the ‘Committee for documentation on Architectural sites in Dhaka’ [Dhakar Sthapotto Bishoyok Grontho Pronoyon Committee (CDASD)]. It recently applied to the Department of Archaeology (DoA) for the photograph of the Tighor Bishnu statue and related information.
The Department of Archeology informed CDASD that the 900-gram statue is 34.5 cm long and the width along its thigh is 29.5 cm. Three arms of the statue are broken, while the lower left hand holds a chakra or disc.
The Department of Archeology said that its chemical laboratory conducted tests to identify the material. After tests, its Antiquities Identification Committee identified the statue as antiquities. The sculpture has since been kept in the department’s antiquities store at the director general’s order.
Committee for documentation on Architectural sites in Dhaka’s Chairman Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique, also the chairman of the Board of Trustees of Bangladesh National Museum, said, “Tighor Bishnu sculpture is an important addition to our national history.”
“Those concerned believe that the statue may belong to the Gupta period or around that time. Committee for Commissioning Books on Architecture in Dhaka is continuing its research about the period and features of the statue.”
How old is the statue?
Scholars assume that Bishnu was one of the Twelve-Aditya mentioned in the Vedas as an ancient deity. Later Bishnu, became one of the major deities during the Puranic and Epic periods. He is the lord of nurturing in the triad-theory of creation-nurturing-destruction. Bishnu and his avatars, especially Dasavatar, are found in various places from almost the beginning of sculptural practice in India to the 12th century.
Among the ancient stone, wooden and metal sculptures found in Bangladesh so far, Bishnu’s images are the highest in number. Researchers say, the number of Bishnu statues found so far in Bangladesh is more than 2,000.
The three types of ancient Bishnu statues are: standing, seated and reclining. Among them, the number of standing four-armed statues is more. During the Kushan and Gupta periods, the four arms of the standing Bishnu were arranged in a downward posture. After the Gupta era, several centres of iconography flourished in some regions of India, retaining local characteristics. It also marked the end of the trend of Bishnu’s four hands facing downward posture.
Dr Claudine Bautze-Picron describes the Tighor Bishnu statue as an ‘outstanding carving’.
She said that, ‘‘This beautiful free-standing wooden sculpture, most probably produced towards the end of the 5th or in the 6th c., shows the god smiling delicately, the thick lips characteristic of the Gupta period, the subtly modelled torso, the elegant twist of the body at the hips, the legs spread wide, the left foot turned outwards: so many elements that breathe life into this image…’’
She noted that, ‘‘As was customary at the time, the god’s four arms are all pointing downwards, and only one of his left hands is preserved, resting on the disc that is one of Vishnu’s most characteristic attributes. Other attributes are now unfortunately broken away: the second main attribute, the club, must have been standing on the ground on the god’s right whereas the conch and the fruit were held by the other two hands.’’
The statue’s importance in rewriting history
Former Director of the Department of Archeology, Md Mosharraf Hossain said there is a stylistic similarity between the Bishnu statue of Rajakpur and the Bishnu statue of Tighor. While the Rajakpur Bishnu was made of clay, the Tighor one is made of wood.
Highlighting the historical importance of the Tighor statue, he said that, ‘‘previously one or two ancient wooden statues were found in East Bengal. On the other hand, ancient statues made of wood are not commonly found in North Bengal. Clay statues are found in North Bengal. The region has a type of sticky clay, which was used to make statues in ancient times. Before making stone statues, there was a practice of making statues out of clay.’’
‘‘On the other hand, from the discovery of wooden Bishnu statues at Tighor, it seems that the practice of making wooden statues existed before the introduction of stone statues in East Bengal.’’
Comilla University’s Assistant Professor and iconography researcher Sharmin Rezowana said it seems to be a Bishnu statue from the chakra in the surviving hand (lower left hand) and the Srivatsa symbol on the chest. She noted Kushana influence in the style of clothing and assumed that it was made in the 4th or 5th century.
Professor Mokammal H Bhuiyan of Jahangirnagar University’s Department of Archaeology said the Tighor statue seems to indicate that it originated in the Gupta period.
“A very small number of statues dating back 1,500 years has ever been found in Bangladesh. The Tighor one is a sign of the beginning phase of the sculptural practice of this region. It appears to be a Gupta period artefact, may be from the 5th or 6th century AD,” he said.
Professor Mokammal said, “I think the oldest statues found so far in east and south Bengal are the wooden Bishnu statue found in the Samatata area, currently preserved in Hong Kong, and the Tighor one. The Tighor statue is an important archetype in the study of ancient art of east and south Bengal.”
Former archaeology department director Mosharraf said, “According to popular belief, the practice of iconography in East Bengal commenced at the turn of the 7th century. But the Tighor statue testifies to the fact that the practice began in East Bengal much earlier. Wooden statues were made before stone statues were made in East Bengal.”
He further said, “According to conventional history, the Kushana empire extended up to Varanasi. But the Tighor Bishnu statue found in Sarail raises questions about this idea. The discovery is forcing historians to rethink whether the late Kushan regency extended to East Bengal or not.”
Mosharraf said that stone statues from the 12th century to the 8th century have been found in different places of Sarail Upazila, Nasirnagar Upazila to its north and Nabinagar Upazila to its south. The Meghna River flows through the east of all three upazilas.
“After the discovery of the Tighor Bishnu statue, it is believed that a civilisation flourished in ancient times on the eastern bank of Meghna River, parallel to Mainamati in Comilla. The villages on the eastern banks of the Meghna had developed prosperous towns in ancient times,” he said.
The specialty of Tighor Bishnu statue in terms of art
During the Kushan period (AD 45-228), the art style developed around Mathura, the region between Delhi and Agra, is known as the ‘Mathura style’. Most of the statues made in the Gandhara style are of Buddhist Mahayana style. And most of the statues made in the Mathura style were of Hindu iconography.
Hindu iconography originated and developed mainly centering Mathura. The end of the Kushan dynasty marked the decline of the Mathura style and the rise of Sarnath centre. During the Gupta dynasty (3rd-6th century AD) under royal patronage, the Sarnath style became the main and most influential streamline of Indian iconography. In the practice of Indian iconography, the Gupta period is known as the classical period.
Eminent iconography researcher Md Mosharf Hossain said, “The Mathura style statues have a bit similarity with Sarnath style statues. Again, there is a discrepancy between the Mathura style of the Kushan period and the Sarnath style of the Gupta period regarding the shape of the lower part of the dhoti, the waist band and the proportional imbalance of the body, etc. The Tighor Bishnu statue bears the hallmarks of the Mathura style of the Kushan period and not of the Gupta period.”
He explained that, “The lower part of the dhoti is triangular in statues made in the Mathura style from the Kushan period. After the beginning of the Gupta era, the lower part of the dhoti gradually became straighter. The lower portion of the dhoti of the Tighor Bishnu statue is angular, he pointed out. Classical Gupta figures have a well-proportioned balance of the body. But figures from Kushana era are not so balanced. In Tighor Bishnu, the length of the lower part of the waist is proportionally greater than the upper part. The legs are also proportionally slender. Mathura statues of the Kushan period preserved in various museum exhibit the characteristic of proportionally unequal balance in shape. Also the girdle at the waist of the Tighor Bishnu statue bears witness to Kushan art.’’
Geographical location of Tighor Dighi
Small and large ponds (the larger ones are called Dighi) were common features of affluent settlements in ancient Bengal. Dighis and multiple ponds are usually seen with palaces or educational institutions or religious establishments. In many cases, the structures have been destroyed but the ponds survived as a testimony of history. The settlements built around these reservoirs changed during different periods of history.
Tighor village of Sarail is mainly a Dighi-centric one. Settlements are built around the large static water body. The settlements are known as Purbapara, Paschimpara, Uttarpara and Dakshinpara. Such naming is based on the location of the settlement near the reservoir.
Tighor Dighi is about 3.25 kilometers east of Meghna River and around 1.5 kilometers east of Tighor village in Sarail Upazila Sadar. There are flood plains around Tighor village, which is part of a Haor (a large wetland ecosystem) that spread across Sunamganj, Habiganj, Netrakona, Kishoreganj and Brahmanbaria. The land around the village remains under water for six months and is cultivated for six months during the dry season. Tighor Dighi is located at the centre of Tighor, a village on a high ground in the flood plain.
There are many small ponds around the Dighi in Tighor village. Local residents said that in 2022, six ponds of the village were filled during the digging of Tighor Dighi. Three of those ponds were on the south side of the Dighi. Google Earth 2021 or earlier satellite images show the existence of three ponds near the southern part of the Dighi. But a recent visit to the site and satellite images after excavation of Tighor Dighi show that the ponds on the southern side has been filled.
Locals complained that the filling of the pond with the soil of the Dighi has caused problems to the water reservoir’s banks. Although the excavation work of the Dighi has been completed recently, erosion has already occurred at several points. A visit to the site found the Dighi’s southeast and northeast banks totally broken. Erosion has also occurred at various places.
The villagers alleged that the contractors had sold soil from the Dighi’s excavation, making it deeper than necessary, which has caused the ground to cave in at places. Villagers fear that all four banks of the Dighi will gradually collapse and suggested building a wall to prevent that from happening.
Tighor village is under Panishwar Union Parishad. Member of Panishwar Union Parishad and resident of Tighor village Layes Miah said that the 17.95 acres Tighor Dighi sits on a government land or Khas land.
He said, “When we were children, we saw that while digging near Tighor Dighi, especially in Dakshinpara, various pieces of pottery would be found. But there’re settlements now.”
Sarail’s ancient settlement, the ‘city of water’ and Tighor Dighi
Sarail is an ancient settlement. However, there is no consistent history of Sarail from the ancient period. It is mentioned in various history books of Sultanate and Mughal eras.
Sarail became famous during the reign of ‘Baro Bhuiyan’. Isha Khan, the leader of the Baro Bhuiyans, was born in Sarail. Isha Khan became the zamindar of Sarail at a young age and gradually expanded the area of the zamindari.
According to ‘Banglapedia’ published by Bangladesh Asiatic Society, Isha Khan declared himself the ruler of Bhati region (low-lying area washed and flooded by rivers and ebb-tides) in 1581-82 AD and assumed the title of ‘Masnad-i-Ala’. According to sources, at this time he shifted his administrative centre from Sarail to Sonargaon.
Panishwar Union Parishad’s Chairman Mostafizur Rahman said that the warships of Isha Khan used to anchor on Meghna River in Panishwar. At night, the lights of the ships looked like a city on water from a distance. The region is said to have been named ‘Panishwar’ from the Bengali phrase ‘city of water’.
The geographical location of Panishwar is also suitable for anchoring warships. According to archaeologists, in ancient Bengal, forts or military bases were usually built at the confluence of canals and rivers. Fleets were anchored at military bases at the convergence points of rivers and canals. Panishwar has one such point. A canal from Sarail passed through Syedtula, Bitghar and joined the Meghna River at Panishwar. The location of the canal is about 400 metres south of Tighor village.
Until the opening of the Ashuganj-Sarail highway in the 1980s, the Sarail-Panishwar canal was one of the main waterways for the people of Sarail. Poet Ashek Junayed, a resident of Syedtula village, said that Sarail-Panishwar canal is locally known as Zafar Canal and has lost its navigability. A significant part has been filled with garbage.
He said that Sarail residents no longer use the waterways, which is one of the reasons why this canal is neglected and no one feels the urge to take initiative to dredge the canal.
Sanjeev Kumar Debnath, a history-heritage researcher and the principal of Sarail Trital Sangeet Niketan, said that until the 1980s, launch (a large, often multistorey, engine-powered passenger boat) was one of the main means of transportation for the people of Sarail. People used to board launches from Sarail to Panishwar or get off the launch at Panishwar and come to Sarail. During the monsoon, people used to commute on the Sarail-Panishwar by boat through the canal. During the dry season, they travelled on foot.
He also said that the path from Sarail to Panishwar passes through Tighor village. The northern bank of Tighor Dighi was also used as the Sarail-Panishwar route.
The large pond is locally known as ‘Tighor Dighi’ but the official name is ‘Jamal Sagar Dighi’. Former member of parliament Ziaul Haque Mridha said that the Dighi was renovated in the 1970s when Taheruddin Thakur was the MP. The Dighi was then named after Maulana Jamaluddin, a religion teacher at Sarail Annada High School.
Panishwar Union Parishad chairman Mostafizur said that the number of voters in Tighor is about 5,000, while the total population is over 10,000.
He said that according to local legends, members of hill tribes lived in Tighor village in ancient times. During the reign of the Baro Bhuiyans, the tribal communities left Tighor. Then Hindu and Muslim settlements were established. After the creation of Pakistan, only the earthenware maker Kumar community was left among the Hindus. They also left at the fag end of the Pakistan period. At present there are only Muslim settlements.
Former member of parliament Ziaul said Tighor is an ancient township. The settlements have changed at different times. Legend has it that a ‘Koch king’ once lived here. However, no research has been done on the history and heritage of Tighor village.
[Tarun Sarkar is a freelance journalist and researcher]
