Vikash Sharma

Bhubaneswar: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday sought Centre’s intervention in carrying out a detailed scientific excavation of the heritage-rich Ekamra Kshetra in Bhubaneswar.

The move comes in the backdrop of findings of invaluable remains of an ancient temple floor on the north-west corner of Suka Sari temple by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Bhubaneswar recently. The remnants of the unearthed structure are believed to have been built during the era of the Somavanshi kingdom between 10th and 11th centuries.

In a letter to Union Minister for Tourism and Culture, Pralhad Singh Patel, Pradhan urged him, to direct ASI to send an expert team to Bhubaneswar for carrying out a detailed study and through scientific excavation of the Ekamra Kshetra area of Bhubaneswar for unearthing heritage structures which may be buried under encroachments on an expedient basis.

The ASI had recently stumbled upon the ancient remains of the temple while carrying out scientific cleaning of the two-acre land adjacent to the Suka-Sari temple complex in the heritage Ekamra Kshetra of ‘temple town’ Bhubaneswar.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Suka-Sari temple complex and Lord Lingaraj 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 to salvage and preserve what remains of this ancient Odishan architecture,” wrote Pradhan.

Officials sources said, the ASI also 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.

(Edited By Suryakant Jena)

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