Babu Rajendralala Mitra, in 1864, described Jahngira as being “the first object of interest which arrests the attention of the traveller” ascending the Ganga from Bhagalpur and remarked that “Its natural beauty and romantic situation have long since dedicated it to the service of religion; and Jangirah, the name of the rock in question, has been associated with many a tale of love and arms. It stands at a distance of about a hundred yards from the right bank immediately opposite to the mart of Sultanganj, and is surmounted by a small stone temple which is visible from a great distance, and serves as a beacon tower to the mariner." Interestingly, the traumatic neglect of the sculptures, as experienced during my visit, was felt even in his time as evident from his note.

Later, Cunningham also witnessed the congregation of pilgrims during the “full moon of Magh, near the end of February, 1879.” and noted “For three whole days the people were arriving from all quarters, in a continuous stream all day long, and for two days afterwards all the roads were thronged with people carrying away vessels of water of the Ganges from Jahngira ghat. He noted that the pile of granite rocks rose up boldly from the water to a height of 70 to 80 feet in gigantic masses, only slightly separated from each other by narrow fissures and surrounded at the base by huge blocks rounded by the weather. Many of the blocks undermined by the river had slipped from their original places, as proved by the sloping positions of some of the sculptures, which was especially noticeable in the standing figure of the Ganga, which was then about 38 degrees out of the perpendicular, and as noted above, has now been buried within the sand. During his visit, there was only one safe landing place on the south side, from which a steep flight of rough steps led to the top.

To be continued....