Moghalmari or Mogolmari is a village and an

archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

site in the Dantan II CD block in the

Kharagpur subdivision Kharagpur subdivision is an administrative subdivision of Paschim Medinipur district in the state of West Bengal, India. Subdivisions Paschim Medinipur district is divided into the following administrative subdivisions, after separation of Jhar ...

of the

Paschim Medinipur district Paschim Medinipur (English: ''West Medinipur'', alternative spelling ''Midnapore'') district is one of the districts of the state of West Bengal, India. It was formed on 1 January 2002 after the partition of Midnapore into Paschim Medinipur a ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. The excavation of the site which began in 2002–03, led by Professor Ashoka Datta of

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

has revealed the presence of a Buddhist monastery dated between 6th to 12th Century. A detailed excavation of the site started in November 2013 by the State Archaeological Directorate led to discovery of several artifacts and six tablets. Excavations at Moghalmari confirmed the presence of Buddhist vihars in the area, which was mentioned by Chinese travellers Fa Hien and Hiuen Tsang.

Geography

Location

Moghalmari is located at .

Excavation

The first detailed excavation of the Moghalmari site started in 2003 by a group of archaeologists led by Asok Datta from Department of Archaeology, University of Calcutta. In the first phase of the excavation in 2003–04, two sites in the Mogholmari village was selected for the excavation. While the first site named MGM1, consisted of a structural mound with bricks strewn over the surface, locally known as ''Sakhisener dhibi'' or ''Sashisener dhibi''. The other site named MGM2 situated over present habitation, consist of five circular brick bases of

stupas In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

and pottery strewn over the surface. The first site revealed a ''triratha'' projection in the western part of the site consisting of a wall running north–south which is considered to be a wall of a small monastic complex. The excavation also revealed square/rectangular structures (considered to be cells) apart from other antiquities. The second site revealed three circular brick structures considered to be base of stupas. The artifact remains indicated that it belongs to 6th-7th Century. Further excavation revealed silt deposition of 55 cm and the artifacts found below that layer consisted of Black and Red Wares. In 2006-07 another extensive excavation was started on MGM1 and another site named MGM3. The excavations revealed a long wall covered with

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

decorations consisting of floral, animals and human figurines, and also evidenced two stages of construction of the structure. Another important discovery of the excavation was the discovery of a Buddha image on a slate stone. Another round of excavations in 2012 revealed various stucco figures in the walls with votive tablets having figure of Buddha as the central element, and flanked by '' Bodhisattas'' and Buddhist inscriptions. The excavation also revealed a ''pradikshana'' path in the eastern and southern part of the site. The excavation has also revealed a central temple structure with cells surrounding a square courtyard. According to Rajat Sanyal, one of the member of the excavating team, the structure was constructed during the ''

Vajrayana ''Vajrayāna'' (; 'vajra vehicle'), also known as Mantrayāna ('mantra vehicle'), Guhyamantrayāna ('secret mantra vehicle'), Tantrayāna ('tantra vehicle'), Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, is a Mahāyāna Buddhism, Mahāyāna Buddhis ...

'' phase of Buddhism, where deity worship started in Buddhism, which can be inferred from the presence of figures of deities in the walls including Jambala and

saraswati Saraswati (, ), also spelled as Sarasvati, is one of the principal Devi, goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of knowledge, education, learning, arts, speech, poetry, music, purification, language and culture. Together with the godde ...

. The figurines and the artifacts evidences towards influence of Gupta tradition of middle Ganga region.

Geography

Location

Excavation

References

See also