Remains of ancient city unearthed

(The Hindu - Friday, February 8, 2008 : 1220 Hrs)

Bhubaneswar (PTI): Remains of an ancient city believed to be around
2500 years old have been unearthed by archaeologists at Sishupalgarh
near here.

The remnants at the historical site including 18 pillars came to
light during a fresh research work undertaken by a team of
archaeologists including Monica L Smith of The University Of
California and R K Mohanty of Deccan College, Pune.

"A huge city existed at the site around 2500 years ago. The latest
findings at the site comprise the most visible standing
architectural structures discovered in India so far," Smith said
while explaining various aspects of the findings.

The remnants suggest that the city, with four gateways, had 20,000
to 25,000 settlers, while classical Athens housed about 10,000
people, Mohanty said adding all these showed the significance of the
ancient city.

The archaeologists came out with new features on the urban life of
the people of the ancient period in course of a surface excavation
at the fortified site, that was first discovered in 1948 by a team
of 12 experts.

The pillars discovered during their research and excavation work
were a part of a gigantic structure, Mohanty said adding the huge
structures were probably used for public gatherings or special
functions.

Referring to the walls excavated at the site, he said this were
quite well-built with a big expanse, amply showing the importance of
the ancient site as a city.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200802081202.htm

Kandaha: Where the Sun may set forever!
Amrit Raj, 08 February 2008, Friday

The village of Kandaha takes pride in the ownership of one of the
oldest and unique Sun temples in India that find a mention in the
Mahabharata and Suryapurana. But unfortunately, the pride of Kandaha
suffers from neglect.

INDIA IS a country of cultural diversity. Some of the elements of
this culture are yet not well known. One such element is present in
Kandaha village of Saharsa district, in Bihar, as an ancient Sun
temple.

Kandaha is a village comprising of 500 to 1000 people, with the
prime occupation of fishing. The village takes pride in the
ownership of one of the oldest and unique Sun temples in India. But,
unfortunately the same pride vanishes when the authorities come in
the picture, as they are least bothered about the promotion,
conservation and protection of this site.

King Harisingh Deo of Mithila made the present Sun temple in 14th
century AD. Situated 15 kilometres west of district headquarters,
this Sun temple proves its allegiance to `Dwapar Yuga', being
mentioned in Mahabharata and Suryapurana. According to myths, Samya,
son of Lord Krishna suffered from a skin disease, which could only
be cured by mixture of water of suryakup (holy well near the temple)
and the `holy water by which that statue is to be bathed'. This is
also proved by the fact that till date skin diseases are being cured
by that holy water.

This Sun temple is also unique in its own sense and first of its
kind, as the statue inside shows Sun with his two wives, Sangya and
Kalha, seven horses and fourteen lagaams (reins). Another feature of
this statue is that it is made of soft stone like clay, which is
very rare. This specialty is nowhere to be seen, be it Konark or
Deb. The most striking feature is the lipi (script) that is carved
on the doors of the temple, which has not been read till date.

However, the statue is not free from destruction, which was suffered
by all Hindu temples during Aurangzeb's era. As a result the left
hand, nose and janeu (holy threads worn across the body) are not
visible and were supposedly destroyed by Aurangzeb and thrown into
the nearby well. This was strengthened by the fact that in 1985,
some other parts of the statue were found from the nearby suryakup.

After 1985, this temple came under ASI (Archaeological Survey of
India). The archaeological department has appointed Suresh Manjhi of
Nalanda district, as the caretaker of this site but this government
official has hardly been see since his appointment. The government
has been knowingly ignorant so far as the development of the site is
concerned. The only help that came was in 2003, when Ashok kumar
Singh, the then minister of tourism, Bihar government, made a grant
of Rs 3,00,000. This money was used to reconstruct the temple and
renovate the campus. Otherwise, this temple is run and managed by
the villagers who works as the labourers in Delhi or Punjab or by
the donation made by devotees, who are very few in number.

This place has not been connected with a main road, which is just
three kilometres away from the village. People are still dependent
on bicycles and bullock carts for transport. To improve the
transport system in this area, government has allocated one crore 44
lakhs rupees under Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak Yojna. The roads are
under construction but the use of charcoal was negligible on the
roads. The illiteracy and poverty add on to the miseries of this
place and this has been the prime reason why this site has not
achieved the recognition that it deserves. A few cases of theft of
artifacts have also come up.

http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=130024