Maner in Ancient Times

The very name of ‘Maner’ seems to have been derived from a similar ancient name even as the origin is not clearly established.

The earliest known reference emerges from a copper plate of the Gahadvala king Govinda-chandra of Kanauj, dated V.S. 1183 (A.D. 1126), which was found at Maner itself. It records[i] that the King granted the villages Gunave and Padali in Maniari-pattala to a Brahmin named Gunesvara-Sarman. Another copper plate of King Jayachandra, also of Kanauj, dated V.S. 1232 (A.D. 1175), found near Benares, likewise mentions Ma(na)ra-pattala[ii]. A second inscription of the same king again refers to Maniari, in Jaru (ttha)-pattala[iii]. From these inscriptional references it is quite clear that Maner was a well known place in the centuries before the Muhammadan conquest and may have possessed some Hindu monuments or temples. Keeping the origin of names of similar ancient sites in mind, it appears that the name Maner may have been derived from the worship of ‘Mani Naga’ signifying the importance of Shaivite serpent worship at the site in ancient times. 

Importantly, evidence of ancient serpent worship since 3rd century B.C. to the Gupta age (5th century A.D.) has been found by Cunningham and others during the excavations at another site named Maniyar Math in nearby Rajgir (Nalanda district). The name ‘Mani Naga’ was found inscribed over a deified Naga (snake) sculpture found in this site. According to the Mahabharata, Mani Naga was the protector of the city of Rajgir. As Hafiz S. Ahmad mentions, at Gauria-Asthan village near Maner on the National Highway there is “a sort of temple with a Neem tree over it” believed to have been the site where a palace stood in the times of the Raja, and where the cultivators, while tilling the land, have occasionally found small snakes, made of pure gold. This may also be taken to indicate that in the ancient times, Maner could have been an important Shaivite site of worship.

To be continued......