Mahanga, March 13: Several rare and ancient stone sculptures related to Buddhism were discovered Friday in the premises of Isaneswar temple in Panaspur village under the block in Cuttack district.
The stone idols were recovered during an excavation work conducted by culture department for construction of a boundary wall of the temple. Abhaya Nayak of the village informed noted historian and Buddhist expert Harishchandra Prusty about the incident. Among the idols, a one ft and 3 inch idol of Buddha from waist to toe and a one ft and 8 inch sitting idol in ‘Lalitaasan’ were the major recoveries.
The discovered idols belong to a period from 8th century to 11th century, Prusty said. These Buddhist idols are similar to the idols seen in world famous Buddhist sites like Lalitagiri, Puspagiri, Udaygiri, Ratnagiri, Nalanda, Bodhgaya, Java, Borobudur, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, he added.
Apart from the idols, daily used earthen pots of light red, deep red, light black and grey colours from medieval age have also been discovered. In the wake of the discovery of ancient and rare sculptures, locals demanded setting up of a permanent museum in the area.PNN
