BHUBANESWAR: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Wednesday stumbled upon an ancient structure, believed to be the floor of a temple, while carrying out scientific cleaning of the two acre land adjacent to the Suka-Sari temple complex.
The structure was unearthed in the wake of the demolition work being undertaken by Odisha Bridge and Construction Corporation Limited and Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) as part of the Ekamra Kshetra project for beautification of Lingaraj temple and its periphery.
In the last few months, several structures including a mutt on the land adjacent to Suka-Sari temple complex have been demolished. The newly discovered structure lies on the north-west corner of the ornate Sari temple. Two other structures, also believed to be the remains of small shrines, have been partially exposed.
Going by the findings, the ASI is presuming that the Sari temple complex was built on the Panchayatana model where the main temple is surrounded by four subsidiary shrines. A portion of the Sari temple which was earlier buried under the campus of the demolished Sanskrit college to its north has also been exposed while cleaning.
Officials of the ASI excavation wing said existence of one subsidiary shrine of the Sari temple, located on its north-eastern part and behind Bhabani Shankar temple, was known. "Today, we found the floor of a temple in the north-west direction of the complex and two more structures on the south-west and south-east corners are partially exposed. Once the structures are completely dug up, we can confirm that the Sari temple was a Panchayatana model like the Brahmeshwara and Chitrakarini temples in the vicinity," said Dr Sushant Kumar Kar, head of excavation wing, ASI.
However, what has come across as a cause of concern is that a majority of the remaining portion of the exposed structure has been lost in the demolition drive carried out by the government.
Despite ASI being the custodian of Suka-Sari temples (belonging to the 10th-11th Somavamshi period), which are considered older than the 11th century Lingaraj shrine and protected under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (AMASR Act), no permission was not taken either by the Works department or BDA for the demolition drive.
As per AMASR Act, the 100-metre area surrounding the monument is declared a prohibited zone and another 200 metre is a regulated area for the purposes of construction, reconstruction, repairs and renovation. Any construction or repair work in that periphery of the monument requires permission from National Monument Authority and ASI.
The ASI suspects that the top portion of the exposed structure has been damaged in the demolition drive and what remains is only the floor.
Heritage experts said such grand heritage plans cannot be implemented haphazardly and without roping in experts from the ASI. "Bhubaneswar was known as Mandira Malini because it had over 1,000 temples of different architectural styles. Today, much of it is buried under encroachments," said Padmalochan Mishra, a historian.
He added that although the government move of demolishing encroachments near Lingaraj temple is noteworthy, it cannot pull down structures without caring about what lies underneath. "By doing so, it is only doing irreversible damage to the heritage," added Mishra.