On an initial look, I felt that the sculptures appeared more plastic than those at Patharghata (referred in the article on Vikramshila6), and thus felt that they could be from the early Gupta period, considering an increase in elasticity and better depiction of emotions on stone with the passage of time. Later, however, I discovered that most scholars too had initially ascribed all the sculptures to the Gupta period; but later dated some to the Gupta period and others to the post Gupta period, with only the Sheshashayi and Varaha Vishnu together with another few small figures in the rock, being assigned an early attribution7. In such case, it may not appear surprising as to why the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims Fa Hian and Hieun Tsang failed to mention this prominent site, which, however, still remains so due to presence of the large but again unmentioned Buddhist monastery in the vicinity and thus the reason for skipping the site could have been since this was almost an exclusive Hindu monument, which thus may have received their scant attention. The numerous sculptures include only two representations of the Buddha, of which, according to Cunningham, one may represent the Buddha incarnation of Vishnu. 

Cunningham assigned it to 2nd or 3rd century A.D., while later Bloch assigned a date around 7th or 8th century A.D. From the nearby remains at Kherhi Hill9, it is evident that artists in the region were quite active during the late 5th to 6th century A.D., and have left behind various ancient sculptures including that of a superbly carved Narasimha Vishnu10 in dark grey stone on the west side of the hill. Singh opined that even as Jahngira was adorned with a few carvings in the Gupta period, it was elaborately embellished probably in the 8th century A.D., to such an extent that hardly any part of the surface remained without sculptures.

To be continued.....