BHUBANESWAR: Archaeologists have stumbled upon two ‘amalakas’ while excavating the Suka-Sari Deula complex on Friday. The structures were found in the north-east direction of the Sari Deula where excavation is being carried out at present. An amalaka is a stone disk with ridges on the rim, that sits atop the temple’s main tower. It is crowned with a kalasha from which a temple banner is often hung.
While one ‘amalaka’ is in good condition, the other has been partially broken. They were found after digging just 30 cm below the earth. Since they remained buried for several years, the amalakas are in a good condition.Superintending archaeologist, ASI Bhubaneswar circle, Arun Malik said one of the
amalakas may belong to any of the temples in the north-east direction. “There are three temples in close vicinity including two that exist next to each other in the north-east direction of Sari Deula. One of the two temples predates the other. There are chances that the amalaka that was found in its entirety may belong to the partially buried temple behind the Gouri Shankar temple. But it is too early to say this and we have to wait till the entire structure is exposed”, he said.
The dimension of the ‘amalakas’ will be measured on Saturday to ascertain the length of the temple on which it was installed.“In Hindu temple architecture, every stone has a meaning and measurement. Measuring the amalakas can tell us about the length of their temples”, Malik said. Besides the ‘amalakas’, some broken sculptures have also been found in the area on Friday.
Including this new finding, remains of four temples have been found from the Suka-Sari Deula complex so far. ASI now plans to excavate the 200-metre area between the Sari Deula and Bindu Sagar where it is believed that many temples were buried when the lake was created.