Pakbirra Jain Temples

Pakbirra is a village in Puncha block of Purulia district, on the edge of the Chota Nagpur plateau, about 40 kilometres from Purulia town. It is known for a group of three Jain temples whose relics date from the 9th and 10th centuries.

The most striking pieces are two colossal figures in polished black stone: a 7.5-foot Shitalnatha and an 8-foot Padmaprabha, which local Hindus also worship as Bhairavnath. There are also images of Rishabhanatha, Parshvanatha, Mahavira, Sambhavanatha and Chandraprabha, the goddesses Ambika and Padmavati, a yaksha and yakshi beneath a tree that holds a Jina among its branches, and three votive stupas. The west-facing main temple has a three-part plan with simple mouldings and wall niches, and fragments of its amalaka and a stone kalasha lie around the site.