Jajpur: Even though a whopping Rs 1,37,21,478 was spent on conservation and maintenance of the Buddhist site at Udayagiri in this district, the place is now facing neglect, a report said Tuesday.
This happened as most of the sanctioned funds were allegedly misappropriated by some employees of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and other vested interests.
Moreover, the hope of getting ancient Buddhist relics ended after the ASI stopped excavations at the site in 1998.
The matter came out through a reply obtained under the RTI Act from an official named BC Mohanty of the ASI’s Works Section. He said that several artefacts have been discovered at Udayagiri, and there is need for more excavations.
The abrupt ending of excavations at the largest Buddhist site of Udayagiri shattered the hopes of historians who were expecting discoveries of ancient relics at the site. They hoped that the relics could shed more light on the past when Buddhism was at its zenith in the state.
Historians claimed that Udayagiri, the largest Buddhist complex in the state, was a place of major stupas and monasteries along with the nearby complexes of Lalitagiri and Ratnagiri, and was a part of Pushpagiri University.
The ASI stopped excavations in 1998, and since then many historians, researchers and social outfits have been demanding more excavations at the site.
The ASI’s excavations had discovered Madhavpur and Singhaprastha – two large Buddhist monastic complexes – and a large 23 ft tall stupa having four images of the meditating Buddha at its four cardinal points.
A chaityagruha complex, a rock built open well of the mediaeval period, idols of Buddhist times and rock edicts were discovered during the excavations. But due to lack of upkeep most of the artefacts discovered during the excavations are in a state of neglect and inching towards destruction.
The ASI first started excavations January 1, 1986. It discovered a huge mediating Mahastupa in March 1987 and a Buddha Mahavihar nearby.
The ASI then claimed that Madhavpur Buddha Vihar, 45-ft in length and 45-ft in width, was a rare artefact of the 8th or 9th century. The Singhaprastha Buddha Vihar is now in ruins.
PNN
