ASI stops excavation after discovery of mysterious‘bearded man in skull cap’ image

https://static.toiimg.com/thumb/msid...4/69785147.jpg

A rather peculiar find. I can't copy and paste the article but I wonder what will come of this.

NewsJizz also refers to it:


ASI stops the excavation after the discovery of the image of the mysterious bearded man wearing a skullcap

BHOPAL: The ASI headquarters has stopped digging at a site in Singrauli, MP where a mysterious engraving of a bearded man in foreign garb and a skullcap on a brick in a sixth century temple was discovered three months ago. The archaeologists, who made the discovery, were told to pack, and their investigation was called unauthorized.

The director of ASI (exploration and excavation) V N Prabhakar has issued the cancellation order. The permission granted to carry out explorations in the archaeological studies of landscapes in the religious architecture of the districts of Sidhi/Singrauli in favor of the studies of Temple Survey (TSP) was canceled due to unauthorized excavations carried out against the permission granted only for exploration , reads in the letter issued. by the ASI headquarters on Tuesday, indicating that the mandate was to observe and not dig.

ASI began working in the Nagwa region, in Singrauli, after a gap of 150 years, employing 20 to 25 locations. According to sources, around 200 people would get jobs if the excavation continued. The team had identified several promising mounds where they planned to dig.

The superintendent archaeologist, Dr. Madhulika Samata, who was in charge of the investigations, declined to comment, but sources in the department told TOI that a section of the ASI officials apparently are uneasy about the bewildering Bricks found in the temple.

It is said that the engraving in a temple of the Kalachuri dynasty of Vishnu is extremely rare and leaves an enigma for archaeologists. Those associated with the project believed that this discovery had extended the age of urbanization in this area to at least 2,000 years ago and hoped to add new chapters to the history of Central India.

When asked not to be named, a senior ASI officer told TOI that Section 22 of the Law on Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Ancient Remains (AMASR Act) does not require permits to carry out archaeological exploration. It is the duty and mandate of an archeology officer to dig in an area where he/she believes that any area that is not protected contains ruins or relics of historical or archaeological importance, he said, adding that in such cases the archaeologist must send a written notice to the district collector and the landowner before beginning the exploration.

The image of the bearded man was not the only surprising finding on this site. An ASI team found an old Vishnu temple nearby. They rushed to the other site after being told that the villagers were digging relics with swords and that they were taking bricks. It turned out to be the Garvagriha of the temple. The excavation of the Vishnu temple has already been completed. What emerged from the ages of the earth was a statue of Vishnu so unique that there are only a few examples of this kind. He has a drum attached to Vishnu's waist, and the left hand of the statue rests on him as if he were touching it.

Another interesting find is a stone carved with 'Ra' and 'La' in the Brahmi script of the I-II centuries. It was found 25cm below the surface. The remains of this period cover an area of ​​approximately 1 km2. The ASI team had detected four more buried temples. The relics indicate the existence of a large city, say officials at ASI.