Ancient Buddhist Monastery found in Jharkhand

In News

Recently, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has unearthed a Buddhist monastery, buried under a mound in a village situated in a hilly area of Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand.

Older Related Discoveries

• In December last year, ASI found a Buddhist shrine with three rooms near agricultural land on the eastern side of Juljul Pahar.

• The central shrine had Tara’s statue and two subsidiary shrines had the Buddha’s.

• Last year, during excavation ASI, found a script of four-five words and they identified it as a Nagri script and dated it between the 10th century AD to 12th century AD. 

• Nagri is a previous version of the Devnagri script and the words indicate Buddhist religious affiliation.

• This time they also got Nagri script on a Tara statue.

Current Findings

• A team from the Patna branch of ASI has excavated 10 stone statues of the deity Tara and the Buddha in Burhani village near Juljul Pahar of Sitagarhi Hills, around 12 km from district headquarters Hazaribagh.
• They found four statues of deity Tara in Varad Mudra (gesture of hand showing dispensing of boons) and six statues of the Buddha in bhumisparsha Mudra (gesture of hand showing five fingers of right hand towards the earth symbolising the Buddha’s enlightenment).
• They found a sculpture that appears to be that of Shaivite deity Maheswari, with a coiled crown and chakra, indicating cultural assimilation in the area.
• Findings are believed to be at least 900 years old.

Significance

• It is a significant finding as deity Tara’s statues means that the place was an important centre of Vajrayana sect of Buddhism.

• This is also important in terms of the spread of Buddhism in Jharkhand. However, it is also a matter of research and further findings.

Source: IE