Other States - Orissa

A treasure trove of heritage

Pot shreds with cotter design, leaf-design and Roman bull. These antiques were found during archaeological explorations carried out in Jajpur district of Orissa.

BHUBANESWAR: Archaeological excavation and exploration being carried out by Orissa Institute of Maritime and South East Asian Studies (OIMSEAS) in Jajpur district continues to throw up interesting facets of history that dates back to early 6th to 7th century BC.

“The sites located near Langudi Hills may be dated back to early part of 6th to 7th century BC. Pottery shapes and types like bows or red ware with a grey core and fine red ware (devoid of a slip) have been unearthed. This clearly suggests that the settlements can be from the second urbanisation,” Balaram Tripathy, the archaeologist involved in the exploration, said here on Saturday.

He said several pottery types, especially red ware without a slip clearly indicated existence of early influence of Buddhism in the vicinity.

Mr. Tripathy said the archaeological remains at the sites also spoke about Mauryan affiliation to Orissa either in form of warfare or trade relation.

“Several shreds of northern black polished ware, including some golden glazed ones signify the testimony of Mauryan affiliation. Several hundred smoking pipes were also recovered as found at Manikapatnn, it is clear that people of the area were proficient navigators,” he said.

Pointing out that thousands of knobbed ware shreds were detected having a central knob encircled by six concentric grooves, Mr. Tripathy said this was interpreted as Mount Meru and the ocean. “We believe this has something to do with Buddhism. This needs more studies,” he said.

The archaeologist also said they might have some strong relationship with Roman civilisation. “The findings of Roman household objects like skin rubbers and pottery clearly indicate that some Roman people, most probably traders, were residing at the site and pursuing trade network,” he said.

Earlier, the OIMSEAS had unearthed some 2,300-year-old artefacts related to Ashokan period. The organisation even claimed that the famous Kalinga war was not fought near Daya River near Bhubaneswar. It said the excavation of the fort of Radhanagar indicated that it could be the ancient capital of Kalinga.

“We are giving maximum emphasis on exploration of the cultural complex in Jajpur district. The archaeological potentiality area has not yet been adequately tapped,” said Nimai Ch. Mohanty, the Project Coordinator of Project Cell (Buddhist Heritage).

Mr. Mohanty informed the exploration work, which was started in 1996, would be expedited within the next couple of months.

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