TIMES NEWS NETWORK (THE
TIMES OF INDIA 1ST NOVEMBER'2013)
Kolkata: A full-fledged
archaeological excavation to unearth a seventh century Buddhist monastery will
start this month at Dantan in West Midnapore.
The excavation, to kick start on November 20, will be done by the archaeologists of the state archaeological directorate. Since 2003, the Calcutta University has been investigating if the mound at Moghalmari, a few kilometres from Dantan, has remnants of a 1300-year-old Buddhist monastery, which had perhaps been in existence at the time of Chinese scholar Hiuen Tsang who had travelled extensively in India.
The university was able to establish the existence of the monastery through its preliminary excavations. The antiques that were unearthed have been documented and a portion of the monastery was also brought out of the mound. However, the university with its limited means was not able to complete the mammoth excavation required to unearth the entire monastery that was developed over two historical ages. The university’s project was partly funded by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the latter had even shown a lot of interest in taking over the project from the university and declaring Moghalmari an ASI “protected site.”
However, the proposal got tangled in red tapism and the excavation had to be stopped two years back.
“We have conducted a detailed survey of the Moghalmari site and examined the antiquities to conclude that the remnants of a seventh century Buddhist monastery might exist there. We will start excavation on November 20 and only thereafter be able to put our seal on the findings,” said Gautam Sengupta, director of state archaeology directorate.
Chinese scholar Hiuen Tsang in his memoirs, dating back to the seventh century, had written about some prominent Buddhist monasteries in Tamralipta state (where Dantan is located). However, apart from the one at Karna Subarna (today’s Murshidabad), no one has been able to trace any monastery anywhere in Bengal.
In 2003, Indologist and coins expert B N Mukherjee, along with some CU scholars, had first visited Dantan to document the navigational history of Bengal. During their recce, these scholars were shown a huge mound at Moghalmari which was popular in local lore as Sashi Sena or Sakhi Sena.
“As the partly excavated site stands now, it is an 11-feet high plinth with divine, human, animal, floral and abstract stucco figures on it. It is a tri-ratha structure, typical of Buddhist monastic architecture, complete with innumerable cells for the monks to live in. The large number of cells indicate that it was a huge monastery. Besides royal patronage from Shashanka, the monastery was patronized by merchants who used the Dantan port,” said Rajat Sanyal, a CU archaeology faculty member who has been part of the excavating team.
The excavation, to kick start on November 20, will be done by the archaeologists of the state archaeological directorate. Since 2003, the Calcutta University has been investigating if the mound at Moghalmari, a few kilometres from Dantan, has remnants of a 1300-year-old Buddhist monastery, which had perhaps been in existence at the time of Chinese scholar Hiuen Tsang who had travelled extensively in India.
The university was able to establish the existence of the monastery through its preliminary excavations. The antiques that were unearthed have been documented and a portion of the monastery was also brought out of the mound. However, the university with its limited means was not able to complete the mammoth excavation required to unearth the entire monastery that was developed over two historical ages. The university’s project was partly funded by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the latter had even shown a lot of interest in taking over the project from the university and declaring Moghalmari an ASI “protected site.”
However, the proposal got tangled in red tapism and the excavation had to be stopped two years back.
“We have conducted a detailed survey of the Moghalmari site and examined the antiquities to conclude that the remnants of a seventh century Buddhist monastery might exist there. We will start excavation on November 20 and only thereafter be able to put our seal on the findings,” said Gautam Sengupta, director of state archaeology directorate.
Chinese scholar Hiuen Tsang in his memoirs, dating back to the seventh century, had written about some prominent Buddhist monasteries in Tamralipta state (where Dantan is located). However, apart from the one at Karna Subarna (today’s Murshidabad), no one has been able to trace any monastery anywhere in Bengal.
In 2003, Indologist and coins expert B N Mukherjee, along with some CU scholars, had first visited Dantan to document the navigational history of Bengal. During their recce, these scholars were shown a huge mound at Moghalmari which was popular in local lore as Sashi Sena or Sakhi Sena.
“As the partly excavated site stands now, it is an 11-feet high plinth with divine, human, animal, floral and abstract stucco figures on it. It is a tri-ratha structure, typical of Buddhist monastic architecture, complete with innumerable cells for the monks to live in. The large number of cells indicate that it was a huge monastery. Besides royal patronage from Shashanka, the monastery was patronized by merchants who used the Dantan port,” said Rajat Sanyal, a CU archaeology faculty member who has been part of the excavating team.
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