Incredible Find: Long Lost 1500-Year-Old Buddhist Temples
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Archaeologists have discovered an ancient Buddhist temple and dozens of other well-preserved structures and artifacts in a park in India’s Tiger Reserve.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has shared photos of caves, temples and other artifacts found at the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, central India’s largest state.
“The ASI team covered nearly 170 square kilometers of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in a months-long study of the region, which was undertaken for the first time since 1938,” writes ASI.
The time period of the finds covers the reign of kings Sri Bhimsena, Maharaja Potasiri, Maharaja Bhattadeva. Some of the places deciphered in the inscriptions are Kaushami, Mathura, Pavata (Parvata), Vejabharada and Sapatanaairikaa.
“The study identified 26 temples, 26 caves, 2 monasteries, 2 votive stupas, 24 inscriptions, 46 sculptures, other scattered remains and 19 water features,” the team wrote.
It is believed that the reign of these kings took place between the second and fifth centuries, which means that the ruins are about 1500 years old.
Coins from the Mughal era and the Sharqi dynasty from the Jaunpur Sultanate have also been discovered.
“For me, the most striking find is the remains of Buddhist structures in a region ruled by a Hindu dynasty. However, it is not yet known who built these Buddhist structures,” senior archaeologist Bajpai, who led the team, said at a press conference.
Researchers did not expect to see inscriptions from older cities such as Mathura and Kaushambi because these cities are located in another Indian state called Uttar Pradesh.
“The names of these cities far away from Bandhavgarh suggest that trade links existed, but again, this is still just guesswork,” a senior ASI official said at a press conference in New Delhi, Newsweek reported.
Christina DENISYUK.
Photo: Twitter
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