Kendrapara: While digging atrench, a group of workers has stumbled upon an antique idol of Hindu divinities in a far-flung village at the district's Mahakalpada block.

The chance-discovery of the antique idol has made the local residents jubilant with people installing the idols at the shrine in village.

The idol are of immense antique value. It dates back to the Kushana era and probably it's 2,000-year-old, according to researchers.

Construction workers were digging the plinth of a boundary wall at Dhyan Das Mahaprusha mutt in Baradanga village when their tools struck the structure.

The antique idol is one foot high, and 100cm wide. Terracotta steps of stupa-like structure were also found in the trench. The digging work was suspended following the discovery. The idol has been preserved in the mutt. Later, it will be shifted to the temple inside the mutt after performing puja, said villager Pratap Kumar Samantaray.

Former superintendent of State Archaeology Department Bijoy Kumar Rath said the idol was antique and its structural design bears the sign of Kushan age architecture.

The deities appeared to be that of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. The dug out area had terracotta steps, he said.

Antique idols have also been found in the area in the past. It indicates that an ancient civilisation had flourished in the area, Rath said.

The finding assumes significance as the area is not far from the Buddhist sites of Udayagiri, Ratnagiri and Lalitgiri.

Buddha idols have been found in the region in past and the religion had flourished in Kendrapara under the Bhaumakar dynasty, he said.

We have told the State Archaeology Department to make a spot visit to the village where the chance-discovery of the antique idol has been reported, said district culture officer Dillip Kumar Nayak.