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DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

  • 18 April, 2021

  • 3 Min Read

Buddhist Remains found in Jharkhand

Buddhist Remains found in Jharkhand

Earlier this year, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) discovered Buddhist Remains from Hazaribagh on the eastern side of Jharkhand’s Sitagarha hills.

What did the Archaeological Survey of India(ASI) discover?

ASI discovered the remains of a Buddhist monastery along with some Shaivite remains which include:

  • Four Statues of Taras, the “saviouresses” of the Thunderbolt Vehicle, displaying the Varada mudra(gesture of hand showing dispensing of boons).
  • Six statues of the Buddha in Bhumisparsha Mudra (gesture of hand showing five fingers of right hand towards the earth symbolising the Buddha’s enlightenment).
  • Remnants of a statue of the Shaivite goddess Maheswari, with a coiled crown and chakra, appear to suggest a degree of cultural assimilation at the site.

Earlier Discoveries at this Site:

  • A painted grey ware (PGW) pottery, a votive stupa, a black basalt apsara torso, and an “eight-petalled astadala lotus” inscribed on the stone were discovered.
  • It was estimated that these antiquities of Buddhism were from the period of the Palas (8th to 12th centuries AD) and the Sena (11th-12th centuries).

Significance of these discoveries:

  • These findings are significant since the monastery is on the old route to Varanasi, 10 km from Sarnath where the Buddha gave his first sermon.
  • Further, the presence of statues of the deity Tara shows the possible proliferation of the Vajrayana form of Buddhism in this region.
    • Vajrayana is a form of Tantric Buddhism which flourished in India from the 6th to 11th century.

Source: TH


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