Bengal
Re-excavating history
- The Statesman
- 12 Jan 2015
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 11 January
The state archaeology department is all set to conduct re-excavation of the Mogolmari mound in Dantan in West Midnapore which is believed to be the ruins of a ‘Buddhist monastic complex’ resembling the ancient Nalanda University and Karnasubarna.
It is being believed to be the biggest monastic structure discovered so far in West Bengal and it was probably an institution on the lines of Nalanda.
Last year, the state archaeology department had taken charge of its excavation and it had been able to do excavation work for about three months. For further excavation work, it applied to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) this year and the ASI authorities in its meeting held on 7 January has renewed its appeal, a senior government official said.
The Mogolmari mound was first discovered in 2003 by Indologist BN Mukherjee who visited Dantan to document Bengal’s navigational history. Calcutta University started excavating the site in 2004 and did it in several phases till 2012 to arrive at the conclusion that a Buddhist vihara existed underneath the massive mound of Mogalmari, that developed in two phases from sixth to seventh centuries and then again from ninth to tenth centuries. However, due to lack of funds and several other infrastructural shortcomings, the university could not continue to excavate the mound. The state archaeology department took it over and started re-excavating the site from November last year.
The state archaeology department has gradually excavated a tri-ratha type of structure that is typical of the Buddhist monastic architecture, complete with many cells lined on all four sides.
Several relics of post-Gupta period, dating back to the sixth and seventh century AD, have been unearthed which resemble those found in Nalanda and Karnasubarna. This monastic structure was, however, made in two phases: after the destruction of its original monastic complex another structure was built on its basic foundation. Its early phase structure was made of various decorative bricks and beautiful relics.
Later it was painted in red and the whole complex was decorated with beautiful artwork. But, in the second phase structure, the complex was not made with earlier phase’s arts. The monastic complex was left abandoned after 12th century. A team comprising eight members from Calcutta University's archaeology department, led by the late Ashok Datta, started digging the area in 2003. During the sixth phase excavation, it was believed to be the largest find till date in Bengal, measuring about 3,600 sq mt.
In the latest, six terracotta tablets were found lying inside a container that was kept below a staircase; that too has been unearthed intact. Brahmi inscriptions have also been found on these tablets that read the equivalent of, ‘Ye darma hetu prabhabo...maha shaman’, indicating clearly that the site was a prominent and proliferating vihara (monastery) of the times. A large number of deities have been unearthed during the course of the excavation and historians feel that the monastery was built during the Vajrayana phase of Buddhism.
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 11 January
The state archaeology department is all set to conduct re-excavation of the Mogolmari mound in Dantan in West Midnapore which is believed to be the ruins of a ‘Buddhist monastic complex’ resembling the ancient Nalanda University and Karnasubarna.
It is being believed to be the biggest monastic structure discovered so far in West Bengal and it was probably an institution on the lines of Nalanda.
Last year, the state archaeology department had taken charge of its excavation and it had been able to do excavation work for about three months. For further excavation work, it applied to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) this year and the ASI authorities in its meeting held on 7 January has renewed its appeal, a senior government official said.
The Mogolmari mound was first discovered in 2003 by Indologist BN Mukherjee who visited Dantan to document Bengal’s navigational history. Calcutta University started excavating the site in 2004 and did it in several phases till 2012 to arrive at the conclusion that a Buddhist vihara existed underneath the massive mound of Mogalmari, that developed in two phases from sixth to seventh centuries and then again from ninth to tenth centuries. However, due to lack of funds and several other infrastructural shortcomings, the university could not continue to excavate the mound. The state archaeology department took it over and started re-excavating the site from November last year.
The state archaeology department has gradually excavated a tri-ratha type of structure that is typical of the Buddhist monastic architecture, complete with many cells lined on all four sides.
Several relics of post-Gupta period, dating back to the sixth and seventh century AD, have been unearthed which resemble those found in Nalanda and Karnasubarna. This monastic structure was, however, made in two phases: after the destruction of its original monastic complex another structure was built on its basic foundation. Its early phase structure was made of various decorative bricks and beautiful relics.
Later it was painted in red and the whole complex was decorated with beautiful artwork. But, in the second phase structure, the complex was not made with earlier phase’s arts. The monastic complex was left abandoned after 12th century. A team comprising eight members from Calcutta University's archaeology department, led by the late Ashok Datta, started digging the area in 2003. During the sixth phase excavation, it was believed to be the largest find till date in Bengal, measuring about 3,600 sq mt.
In the latest, six terracotta tablets were found lying inside a container that was kept below a staircase; that too has been unearthed intact. Brahmi inscriptions have also been found on these tablets that read the equivalent of, ‘Ye darma hetu prabhabo...maha shaman’, indicating clearly that the site was a prominent and proliferating vihara (monastery) of the times. A large number of deities have been unearthed during the course of the excavation and historians feel that the monastery was built during the Vajrayana phase of Buddhism.
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