Old temples, ancient idols excavated in Raisen district
Two temples of Parmar-Kalchuri style and over 30 ancient rare idols and architectural sections were found in a village of Raisen district.
Two temples of Parmar-Kalchuri style and over 30 ancient rare idols and architectural sections were found in a village of Raisen district.
The BS Vakankar Archeology Research Institute, a unit of archeology department of the state government, excavated the temples at Richhawar village.
Commissioner archeology Anupam Rajan said Richhawar is historically important. “This area has been identified as the site of Parmar-Kalchuri dynasty. Influence of both the Parmar and Kalchuri style has been noticed on temples and idols found at this place,” he said.
The specialty of the structure is that the lower outside part of the temple is decorated and has idols on three sides. Several ancient and rare idols of gods and goddesses like Shiva, Ganesh, Indrani, Brahamani, Maheshwari, Kartikeya, Brahma and Vishnu Bhagwan have been found in the temple. The second temple is 45 feet in length and 31 feet in breadth. Eight idols have been found in this temple.
The Brahma idol found at the site is 61 centimetre in height and 40 centimetre breadth. The idol has 24 arms and bears a sacred thread (Janeu). The idol of Lord Vishnu is 61 centimetre in height and 40 centimetre in breadth. The Kartikey idol has eight arms and it is 51 centimetre in height and 37 centimetre in breadth. The idol is riding on peacock with a crown on its head. The idol of Uma-Maheshwar is 48 centimetre in height
Rajan has congratulated research officer Dr Jinendra Jain of the research institute and his team.