Bhubaneswar, March 11: Ancient sculptures are lying unattended on the Nuagada hillock in Athgarh town of Cuttack district.

These rock sculptures, which date back to the fifteenth century, need urgent preservation measures.

Lying on the hillock situated on the bank of the Sapua river, a tributary of the Mahanadi, these sculptures are found abandoned with no signs of any conservation measures ever taken before. The site lies about a kilometre to the west of the Athgarh township.

According to information documented by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, the laterite hillock preserves rock cut images of Brahamanical faith, such as the images of Yamuna, Vishnu, Mahisasuramardini Durga and Ganesh.

Scholars at the centre also add that on the basis of iconographical features, the rock-cut sculptures could be assigned to the fifteenth century, the period of late Ganga rule in Odisha.

“The sculptures are of a two-armed Yamuna standing over her mount tortoise, a four-armed Vishnu, 10-armed Mahisasuramardini Durga and a four-armed Ganesh. Another Ganesh idol lies in the river Sapua,” said noted historian Sadashiba Pradhan, who had reviewed the details of the information listed by another historian, Jaya Shankar Naik, for the centre.

Pradhan added that the sculptures were facing the west and northwest. All the idols found at the site are sculptures carved from laterite rocks.

Unfortunately, these finds are not being taken care of either by the state archaeology department or the Archaeological Survey of India.

The sculptures are lying in the open with natural elements destroying them gradually. Some of the carvings are damaged beyond recognition.

“Unless they are immediately collected and cleaned off the wild vegetation and algae, these old sculptures will not survive the vagaries of nature,” said Pradhan.

Local residents have started worshipping a few statues of Hindu gods. These people feel an excavation exercise in the area could unearth a number of historical items.

“It would be good if the Archaeological Survey of India sends archaeologists to conduct excavations here,” said Niladri Mallick, the resident of a nearby village.