Union minister seeks excavation of site where temple ruins were found in Odisha

Earlier this week, a team of ASI's Bhubaneswar circle had found remnants of a 10th century temple of the Somavamshi dynasty near Bhubaneswar's Suka-Sari temple, a 13th century monument under protection of the central body that was completely excavated 4-5 years ago.

Published on: Jan 31, 2021, 24:41:23 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Days after the Archaeological Survey of India stumbled upon the remnants of a 10th century temple near the 11th century Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar, Union minister for petroleum and natural gas and steel Dharmendra Pradhan urged Union culture and tourism minister Prahlad Singh Patel for his intervention for a detailed study and thorough scientific excavation of the heritage area of the state capital.

The Archaeological Survey of India found the remnants of a 10th century temple near the famous Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar, (HT PHOTO).

In a letter to Patel on Saturday, Pradhan said the discovery of the remains of the 10th century temple floor has proved that there may be more heritage structures that lie buried under the encroachments. “Keeping in mind the immense archaeological, artistic, socio-cultural and religious importance of ancient Odisha's temples, I request your personal intervention in directing the Archaeological Survey of India to send an expert team to Bhubaneswar for carrying out a detailed study and thorough scientific excavation of the Ekamra Kshetra area in Bhubaneswar for unearthing heritage structures,” Pradhan wrote.

Earlier this week, a team of ASI's Bhubaneswar circle had found remnants of a 10th century temple of the Somavamshi dynasty near Bhubaneswar's Suka-Sari temple, a 13th century monument under protection of the central body that was completely excavated 4-5 years ago. The ASI discovered two other structures, believed to be the remains of small shrines, and a portion of the Sari temple. These findings have led ASI experts to believe that the Sari temple complex was built on the Panchayatana model where the main temple is surrounded by four subsidiary shrines.

The minister said as the Suka-Sari temple complex and Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar are protected by ASI under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (AMASR) Act, there is an urgent need to act quickly in order to salvage and preserve what remains of this priceless ancient Odishan architecture,

Pradhan's letter to the culture minister came amid allegations of ASI that the BMC and BDA did not consult it while undertaking demolitions around the heritage structures over the last 3 months in the name of development of the area around Lingaraj Temple. ASI Bhubaneswar circle's superintendent, Arun Mallick said he is clueless about the heritage structures lost during the demolition drives by BMC-BDA on two acre of land surrounding Suka-Sari temple complex for construction of an open arena to accommodate huge number of devotees ahead of Shivaratri this year.

“Most of the demolitions were done at night and there is no trace of the debris. During excavations early this week, we found a number of architectural fragments around north-west and north-east corners of Sari temple. There must be more debris that were removed from the site before we stepped in for excavation. I want to check whether the debris contains anything important from the heritage point of view,” Mallick said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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