The archaeological remains of a medieval era temple have been discovered by the Odisha chapter of Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage (INTACH) in close vicinity of a railway station at Purushottampur Sasana village in Badachana block of the Jajpur district.
The temple ruins, near the Dhanmandal Railway Station, lay scattered in an area of four acres at the base of a small hillock, a little away from the railway siding. The ruins are suggestive of a large temple complex that had crumbled down with the passage of time, said project coordinator, Intach, Anil Dhir.
However, the base of the temple is still clearly visible. A large number of huge stone blocks, intricately carved stone panels, and few religious sculptures are found scattered all around the site. The most notable stone panels are the depictions of war processions, musical bands, royal processions, palanquins and elephants. Considering this iconography, the temple dates back to 13th or 14th Century C.E, the period when the Eastern Ganga Dynasty held sway over the region, he said.
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The presence of many small forts in the vicinity is indicative of a large habitation in the early days. Many archaeological remains from Eastern Ganga’s era have been discovered in the nearby forts of Amaravati, Teligada and Darpanagada.
Earlier, the nearby villages of Teligada and Dharmasala had yielded the Rathayatra stone panel and a magnificent Krishna-Vishnu image which have been kept at the Odisha State Museum. The archaeological remains and antiquities noticed at this spot are very similar in nature to these.
A proper archaeological excavation of the site should be undertaken by experts from the State Archaeology Department or the ASI. While most of the embellished stone blocks and images of the ruined temples have been taken away, the few that remain should be removed and kept at the State Museum.
The entire 4-acre complex should be secured by a wall or barbed wire fencing and the place declared as a protected monument, INTACH authorities suggested.
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