Dhaka, Dec 31 (ANI): Archaeologists have discovered an 1,800-year old terracotta plaque bearing the image of the only female Jain Tirthankar Mallinath, at Damdampir of Manirampur upazila in Jessore, Bangladesh.

According to Shihabuddin Mohammad Akbar, director of the Khulna regional office of Archaeology Department, Mallinath was the daughter of Kumbharaja of Mithila and Prabhavati. Mallinath was 19th of the 24 Jain Tirthankars, he said.

A report in The Daily Star says that though the Khulna office of the Archaeology Department discovered the rare terracotta piece after digging a large mound of earth at the site, it was kept a secret for security reasons.

“We did not immediately disclose the facts about this particular discovery for security reasons,” said Shihabuddin Mohammad Akbar, director of the Khulna regional office of Archaeology Department.

Besides the seven-inch-long red sandstone terracotta image of Jain Mallinath, more antiques including earthenware from the 200-year-old Jain dynasty were discovered at the site.

Archaeologists expect that more antiques will be found at the site where digging work is still going on. (ANI)