Excavation work in progress at Bero

Jamshedpur, May 26: Excavations at Bero block of Khukragarh village have unearthed the remains of a 14th century temple, which archaeologists believe could have links with an existing Shiva temple.

“There is a prominent Shiva temple at the site of excavation. Efforts are on to find out if there is a link between the two,” said Harendra Prasad Sinha, the deputy director of the state archaeology department, under whose jurisdiction work is being carried out

Sinha and team have been conducing the excavation here to trace the historical lineage of tribals of the Chhotanagpur plateau.

Earlier, almost seven coins were dug out from the site, suggesting they were from the 14th century. Also, as many as five “pot burials” were found from the same site.

Recent excavation unveiled the temple plan at a depth of 1.5m and experts are trying to find if people in that era had religious beliefs.

“We have to believe that people in that era were worshippers of some god. Tracing them to the corresponding period is our biggest challenge,” added Sinha.

Encouraged by the findings a couple of week ago, the state archaeology department has asked for an extension of the deadline for the excavation at the site.

“We had permission to undertake excavation activities at the site till September. Now we have sought permission to continue work at the site till December,” said the deputy director of the state archaeology department.

The report to be submitted by the archaeology department will contain the essential details of the period of temple construction, dedications for the temple and the person under whose supervision the structure was built.

Excavation work at Khukragarh village was undertaken after a team of experts surveyed the place. But work had to be stalled following objection from some quarters.

In March, tribals had spotted a hargahi (burial ground) at the site of the excavation. Later, art and culture minister Bandhu Tirkey had ordered a temporary ban of work at the site. But excavation resumed later and it generated high interest for the sheer value of probable links to the Mughal period.