Rock Engravings and Sculptures of North Guwahati, Assam Dwipen Bezbaruah* and Geetanjali Devi*

Bezbaruah, D and Devi, G 2016 Rock Engravings and Sculptures of North Guwahati, Ancient Asia Assam. Ancient Asia, 7: 2, pp. 1–12, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/aa.111 SHORT REPORT Rock Engravings and Sculptures of North Guwahati, Assam Dwipen Bezbaruah* and Geetanjali Devi* Introduction place with the presence of temples, like Doul Govinda, The study of Indian art, architecture, sculpture and tem- Dirgheswari, Aswakranta, Manikarneswar, Rudreswar; ple structure found prominence in the works of eminent inscriptions like Kanai Boroshi Bowa, stone-built bridge scholars like Rowland (1970), Coomaraswami (1972), Ray called Sil- Sako and Vaishnavite monastery called Auniati (1974), Saraswati (1975), Agarwal (1995), Deva (1995) and Satra. Moreover, the place names like Rangmahal (palace in the context of Assam, we find the glimpse of sculptures in for recreation), Rajaduar (king’s gate) suggest the exist- the laudable works of Nath (1978), R.D.Choudhury (1985), ence of an administrative centre in the past. It is a part of N.D.Choudhury (1985), P.C.Choudhury (1987), Sarma greater Guwahati. Greater Guwahati is a Master plan for (1988), Kakati (1989), Dutta (1990), Sarma (2001), Deka expansion of the Guwahati city in order to deal with rapid (2004), Bordoloi (2007a, 2007b), Das (2007) and Patowary urbanization and related urban issues. Both caste popula- (2008). So far, detailed study of sculpture in the archae- tion and tribal population are found in North Guwahati. ological context of particular sites in Assam has not Therefore, the North Guwahati area has been selected for been undertaken. Moreover, the studies are descriptive the present study keeping into account the rich tangible in nature and there are other aspects also which needs cultural heritage it endows. consideration. The present study is restricted to five Even though the area is rich in archaeological herit- archaeological sites of North Guwahati in Kamrup district, age, the study has been delimited to those five archaeo- Assam, and the recording of the sculptures and engrav- logical sites which are protected and preserved by the ings observed in the vicinity of the above mentioned sites. Directorate of Archaeology, Assam under the Assam The sites need further protection and conservation as the Ancient Monuments and Records Act, 1959. The sites engravings and sculptures are facing natural as well as are Dirgheswari, Kanai Boroshi Bowa, Aswakranta, anthropogenic threats. Manikarneswar and Rudreswar. Dirgheswari site is In the present paper, the term “rock engraving” is used located in Rangmahal, Kanai Boroshi Bowa in Rajaduar, to mean those impressions or incisions made on the rock Aswakranta in Majgaon, Manikarneswar in Rajaduar and surface of the sites which are found in the form of line, Rudreswar in Silsako area of North Guwahati. All the sites dot or cut marks and are two-dimensional in nature. By hold religious edifices which are at present dedicated to the term “sculpture” is meant those stone carvings which particular Hindu God and Goddess. Aswakranta site con- are found on the surface of the rocks in the sites as well tains two religious edifice called Kurma Janardan temple as those stone carvings which are found lying in the and Anantasaye Narayan temple. vicinity of the sites, i.e., both the type of sculpture are The study is based on primary data collected through field three-dimensional in nature. The sculptures have been visits by applying Exploration method. Field visits were made in categorized into two types – rock cut sculptures and rock dry and winter season from the month of November to March. sculptures. Rock cut sculptures are those which are found The engravings and sculptures noticed in the above mentioned static on the rocks of the sites and rock sculptures are sites were recorded. Non-Participant Observation method was portable or movable ones lying in the sites. used to collect data on the religious edifices. Unstructured Interview method was also used to gather information about Methodology the sites from the priests of the respective religious edifice. The area for the present study is North Guwahati in the GPS device was used to record the coordinates and elevation district of Kamrup in the Indian state of Assam. North of the sites for preparation of a GIS map of the sites and the Guwahati is situated in the northern direction of Guwa- area under study. Four of the sites have been plotted with hati city on the northern bank of the river Brahmaputra. cooordinates recorded through Global Positioning System North Guwahati is a historically and archaeologically rich (GPS) device over satellite image of Geater Guwahati with an inset Digital Elavation Model (DEM) map of Assam (Fig. 1). Documentation format for Archaeological/Heritage Sites/ Monuments of Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts * Gauhati University, India (IGNCA) was employed to collect data on the sites. Secondary [email protected] sources of data collection were books, research papers, articles Corresponding author: Dwipen Bezbaruah and Ph.D. theses. Art. 2, page 2 of 12 Bezbaruah and Devi: Rock Engravings and Sculptures of North Guwahati, Assam Figure 1: Satellite image of Greater Guwahati marking four archaeological sites. Findings the right side from the entrance, one big Ganesa was found Dirgheswari site: Coordinates – N 26° 14’37.0” lat. again on the left hand side from the entrance (Fig. 3), E 091° 44’57.8” long., 99 mts ams. another one by the side of the sculpture of a sage and is Dirgheswari site comprises of one monument which is located on the left hand side from the entrance and two in use as temple dedicated to Goddess Kali. On the left were found side by side at the back of the garbhagriha. hand side from the entrance of the site, face of Shiva was Just above the hill where two medium sized Ganesa was observed engraved on a big rock. As the engraving was perceived, one shrine resembling a yonipitha (genital located at a height of the rock, the measurement could organ of Mother Goddess) was noticed with the remains not be taken. Altogether approximately seventeen series of a ratha type garbhagriha surrounding the shrine. By of dot marks were seen in linear pattern in the entire site the side of the big Ganesa, one sculpture of Yama sitting and the length and number of such marks varied in each on an animal, probably a buffalo was noticed. On climb- rock. Again, near the entrance in the left hand side, on a ing upwards one sculpture of hanuman was seen on the rock some line marks were perceived resembling a tem- left hand side from the entrance. Just below the sculpture ple with a shrine at the centre. One chess board (square of the sage which is believed to be of sage Markandeyaby shaped) measuring 2 ft × 2 ft was noticed above a rock and the local people, one shrine resembling Shiva linga (phal- by its side another chess board (rectangular shaped) meas- lic pillar of Shiva) was seen. Two unidentified deity were uring 1.4 ft × 10 inch was observed. Two tusked elephants found on the same piece of rock on the right hand side were seen to be engraved facing south-east direction, the from the entrance. Three series of steps were found, two smaller one measuring 1.8 ft × 11 inch and the compara- outside the temple boundary having fourteen and twelve tively bigger one measuring 3 ft × 2.2 ft (Fig. 2). Another steps and the other series inside the temple boundary four engravings of temple like structures were noticed fac- with approximately eight steps (Table 2). ing south-east direction. One pair of foot impression with One sculpture of an unidentified deity was found flower petals on its surroundings was observed by the side lying outside the jugmohol (recently constructed con- of the antarala (the corridor that leads to the garbhagriha or crete space in between mandapa or prayer hall and inner sanctum) which is believed to be the foot impres- antarala). Another partly broken sculpture resembling a sion of Goddess Durga by the local people (Table 1). tiger was seen outside the antarala of the temple. Inside Among the rock cut sculptures of Dirgheswari site, six the boundary of animal sacrificial place one sculpture Ganesawere found of which two are located on a rock on resembling a flower showing beautifully carved petals Bezbaruah and Devi: Rock Engravings and Sculptures of North Guwahati, Assam Art. 2, page 3 of 12 Figure 2: Engravings of tusked elephants in pair at Dirgheswari. Sl. No. Motif Type Number Orientation Measurement (in ft.) 1. God and Shiva 1 North west–South east Not feasible for Goddess measuring 2. Dot marks Linear 17 series Mostly North west–South east Maximum 7 ft (approx) (approx.) Minimum 3 ft (approx) 3. Human and Foot impression with petals of 1 pair North east–South west 8 inch × 4 inch floral flower encircling it 4. Religious Temple like structure with a 1 North west–South east 2.9 ft × 8 inch edifice shrine at the centre North west–South east 9 inch × 4 inch Temple like structures 4 North west–South east 1.6 ft × 1 ft North west–South east 2 ft × 1.3 ft North west–South east 1.11 ft × 1.2 ft 5. Geometric Chess board 2 South west–North east 2 ft × 2 ft South west–North east 1.4 ft × 10 inch 6. Faunal Elephant 2 North west–South east 3 ft × 2.2 ft North west–South east 1.8 ft × 11 inch Table 1: Rock engravings from Drgheswari. with upper portion being flat and one pillar like sculpture Kanai Boroshi Bowa site: Coordinates- N 26° 12’36.5” with animal motif on its both the sides and one full pot lat.

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