HVK Archives: 12th century idol brings devotion to Bengal village
12th century idol brings devotion to Bengal village - The Asian Age
Dhiman Chattopadhyay
()
19 July 1997
Title: 12th century idol brings devotion to Bengal village
Author: Dhiman Chattopadhyay
Publication: The Asian Age
Date: July 19, 1997
The discovery of a mysterious five-foot tall deity weighing 15 quintals and
found barely a feet underground by a villager on July 7 has brought Salda,
a small village in Bankura district 18 km from Bishnupur, to national
limelight.
The idol has a large head, a broken nose resembling the trunk of Ganesh and
a buffalo as its mount. This has led to different opinions. While
villagers say it is either Jamraj (Asura) as it has a buffalo as its mount
or Mahesh Mardini, others have called it the Baraha (boar) avatar of Krishna.
On the evening of June 7 Sakti Samanta, a village electrician, was digging
near his cowshed when he suddenly hit a rock. The "rock" turned out to be a
large reddish idol lying about a feet under the ground. He immediately
called others who helped him carry the deity to a safe place. "Imagine my
surprise when I found this huge scary face staring at me," Mr Samanta told
The Asian Age.
Scholars are at a loss to date the origin of the artefact, but director of
Bangiya Sahitya Parishad unit at Bishnupur Chittaranjan Dasgupta feels the
idol could date back to the 11th or 12th century. Director of the state
archaeological survey Dr Gautam Sengupta also said the deity was created
most probably between the 10th and 12th centuries when the Pala and the
Sena kings were ruling Bengal. "I haven't seen the idol as yet but from
what I have heard it seems like a Mahesh Mardini statue," he said.
The discovery of the deity has revealed several interesting facts. Local
scholars of history and those interested in epigraphy say remnants of what
might have been gates and pillars of a temple are scattered all over the
village. Sabitri Ghosh, a local resident, said, "These rock structures were
found by generations of villagers mostly while digging in and around the
place."
Village priest Arun Kumar Batabyal added that most these rocks had been
kept inside the local school but some were still lying around on July 17
when this correspondent visited the place. A large chunk of granite, which
was found a few metres from the where the idol was discovered, is very
similar to that of a lion's paw. Faces of animals and remains of what
might have been a gate were also dug up from fields.
The villagers, have refused to hand over the idol to the state authorities.
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