Jagjivanpur

Jagjivanpur, also written Jagajjibanpur, lies in Habibpur block of Malda district, 41 km east of English Bazar. Attention turned to it in 1987, when a copper plate of the Pala emperor Mahendrapala, a ruler unknown until then, was found by chance. Dated to his seventh regnal year (854), the plate records a land grant to the Nandadirghika-Udranga Mahavihara, a monastery founded by his general Vajradeva.

Excavations from 1992 by the state archaeology directorate exposed part of that brick monastery on the 5 m high Tulabhita mound: monastic cells with corbelled niches, a courtyard with a tiled path, a verandah, a staircase and stupas, one still about 3.5 m tall. Other mounds and a large tank, Nandadighi, lie across the site. Most finds, including terracotta seals and plaques and a bronze image of Marichi, are kept at the State Archaeological Museum in Behala, Kolkata, while the copper plate is in the Malda Museum.