Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2018-12-25 PM TO OPEN BUDDHIST SITE MUSEUM AT LALITGIRI IN ODISHA Relevant for: Prelims Specific News | Topic: null
Into the past:The museum building at Lalitgiri in Odisha.SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
One of the earliest Buddhist settlements in Odisha, Lalitgiri, where excavations have yielded ancient seals and inscriptions, has been converted into a museum. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the museum through video conference from Bhubaneswar on Monday.
Located in Cuttack district, it will be the third site museum of the Bhubaneswar circle of the Archaeological Survey of India after Ratnagiri and Konark, said Nandini Bhattacharya Sahu, Regional Director of ASI (Eastern Circle).
Vital stats
The museum complex is spread over 4,750 sq. m. The building and auditorium are built over 1,310 sq. m. The complex has been constructed at a cost of Rs. 10 crore. Excavations at Lalitgiri have yielded the remains of four monasteries, showing cultural continuity from the post- Mauryan period till the 13th century CE.
The centre of attraction is a relic casket containing corporal remains found inside the ‘Mahastupa’. “Huge sculptures of Buddha, architectural fragments of Viharas and Chaityas are arranged period-wise...the central gallery is designed after a Buddha Mandala with a colossal Buddha image at its centre and six Bodhisattva images surrounding it,” said Arun Malik, Archaeologist, ASI (Bhubaneswar Circle).
The site yielded more than 40 seals and inscriptions, most of them bearing Buddhist “Dharnimantras” in the eastern variety of Nagri script and in Sanskrit dating between 7th and 11th centuries CE.
END Downloaded from crackIAS.com © Zuccess App by crackIAS.com crackIAS.com