Dharmendra Pradhan seeks detailed study of Bhubaneswar's Ekamra Kshetra by ASI's expert team
Jan 30, 2021
New Delhi [India], January 30 : Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has written to Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel to send an expert team of Archeological Survey of India (ASI) to Bhubaneswar for carrying out a detailed study and thorough scientific excavation of Ekamra Kshetra for unearthing heritage structures.
Recently, the Bhubaneswar circle of ASI chanced upon the remains of a temple of the 10th-11th century while carrying out a scientific of the two-acre land adjacent to the Suka-Sari temple complex in the heritage Ekamra Kshetra of Bhubaneswar.
"As you would be aware, the Bhubaneswar Circle of Archeological Survey of India (ASI) recently chanced upon invaluable remains of a 10th-11th Somavanshi period temple floor on the north-west corner of the Sari temple, while carrying out scientific cleaning of the two-acre land adjacent to the Suka-Sari temple complex in the heritage Ekamra Kshetra of 'temple-town' Bhubaneswar," Pradhan wrote in the letter.
Suka-Sari temple complex and Lord Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar are protected by ASI under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (ANASR Act).
There is an urgent need to act quickly in order to salvage and preserve what remains of this priceless ancient Odishan architecture, Pradhan added.
"Keeping in mind the immense archaeological, artistic, socio-cultural and religious importance of ancient Odisha's temples, I request your personal intervention in directing ASI to send an expert team to Bhubaneswar for carrying out a detailed study and thorough scientific excavation of the Ekamra Kshetra area in Bhubaneswar for unearthing heritage structures which may lie buried under encroachments on an expedient basis," Pradhan stated.
