BHUBANESWAR: After completion of excavation last week, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will soon start conservation of the stupa excavated atop Parabhadi hill in Jajpur district. While the excavated stones will be numbered and stitched together, the missing stone spots would be filled in to tighten and reshape the 15-ft-high stupa. Currently, stones from a large portion of the stupa remain dislodged. The structure is believed to be belonging to the 7th or 8th century.
Four broken images of Buddha in ‘dhyana’ mudra, two more terracotta plates, terracotta lamps, red and grey broken pottery ware are among the antiquities found during the excavation at the hill that started a month back. It is suspected that the images of meditating Buddha have been damaged due to mining over the years. During the initial days of excavation, a rock cut sculpture of meditating Buddha and a plate with image of Buddha had been found.
The stupa, 18-metre in width, rests on a square platform and is shaped as a dome on the top of the hill with 18 layers of stone arrangement. The base is 11 metre in width. ASI Odisha chief Dibishada Brajasundar Garnayak said iron clamps have also been found from the site which were used to join the stones of the stupa and stone chips were used to fill gaps in the stones.
Located close to Lalitgiri, the site was discovered between 1975 and 1985. “We plan to reconstruct the entire stupa. There are a lot of dislodged stones which were cleared during the excavation and these will be joined and tightened as a part of the conservation process,” Gadnayak said.