Hazaribag: A team of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) may have stumbled upon the remnants of a 1,000-year-old Buddhist monastery on the outskirts of Hazaribag district.
While digging at Barhanpur village in Gurhait panchayat on the foothills of Sitagarha hills, the team excavated 11 stone statues, including six of Gautama Buddha, in the last two days.
One of the archaeologists, Dr Birendra Kumar said, “The area may have been a monastery which thrived during the Pala dynasty between the 9th and 10th centuries. The digging commenced a fortnight ago and the statues excavated are in a good condition and range between 2-3 feet.”
Thursday, February 25, 2021
JHARKHAND, INDIA Archaeological Survey of India researchers have discovered a tenth-century structure in one of three mounds identified as possible Buddhist sites on the Hazaribagh Plateau in northeastern India, according to a report in
The Hindustan Times. The mounds are situated along an ancient road that connected Sarnath, a city near the confluence of the Ganges and the Varuna rivers where Gautama Buddha once taught, and Bihar, where he later attained enlightenment in the village of Bodh Gaya. Excavation of the first mound last year revealed a temple with an entry gate and stairs. In the second mound, located about 130 feet away from the first, team member Neeraj Mishra said the researchers uncovered traces of a small, three-roomed monastery. Five sculptures of the seated Gautama Buddha, and a sculpture of Tara, a female meditation deity, were found in the rooms. An inscription at the site helped researchers to date the structure to the tenth centur
COIMBATORE: Officials from the revenue department and police personnel recovered seven idols from Perur Periyakulam on Monday.
The officials found bronze idols of Goddess Vishnu Durga, Mahalakshmi, Karumariamman, Lord Krishna, Vinayaga, Goddess Saraswathi and a Karumariamman sculpture from the lake. They were taken to the Perur taluk office for safekeeping. Sleuths of the idol wing police inspected the idols.
Experts from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will visit the taluk office on Tuesday to ascertain the age of the idols, sources said.
“Smugglers would have dumped the idols in the lake during vehicle check near Perur Periyakulam. We are trying to gather information about idols stolen from other districts also. We believe the idols are not antiques,” said a police officer. “We have not received any complaints about idol theft from Coimbatore.”
People > Interviews
23 February 2021
, is the author of Twin Tales from Kutcch
, a family saga set in colonial India, which has won critical acclaim both in India and overseas since its publication last year. Saeed was born and brought up in Mumbai and was educated at St. Mary’s High School and St.Xavier’s College and later, at the University of the Sorbonne in Paris. He has had a long and eventful working career in India, the UK and France spanning marketing, advertising, airline and travel industries. Today he works part time as an independent consultant and devotes his spare time to writing.
DARJEELING: With a view to promote employment in the travel and tourism sector after the coronavirus pandemic crippled businesses, Union tourism and culture minister Prahlad Patel on Monday launched the tourism ministry’s campaign to promote homestays across the country, which he said will give a leg up to rural ‘Aatmanirbharta (self-dependence)’.
Patel also announced the setting up of a ‘Tourism Highway’ – a 250 kilometre-long circuit containing 13 destinations – under which the ministry has partnered with Google to identify and geotag monuments of relevance along national and state highways, prompting road travellers to visit India’s lesser-known cultural, archaeological and religious sites. He added that the Archaeological Survey of India has started the process of relisting ASI-protected state monuments, an initiative that will allow public to recommend lesser-known monuments for possible inclusion in ASI’s protected list.