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| Archives Deptt discovers Hanuman’s stone sculpture in Budgam district | | | Jehangir Rashid
SRINAGAR, July 8: Department of Archives, Archaeology and Museums have discovered the rare stone sculpture of Hanuman in Central Kashmir’s Budgam district. The Directorate of Archives, Archaeology and Museums is to display this rarest artifact for researchers and general public in the archaeological gallery at SPS Museum Lal Mandi Srinagar.
Giving details about the discovery, Director Archives, Archaeology and Museums, Mohammad Shafi Zahid said that a team of archaeologists active in its drive of exploration and excavation of the archaeological antiquities was successful in recovery of several rare antiquities of immense archaeological value. The team has made certain path breaking findings of Kashmir sculpture art.
“The team recently encountered a rarest stone sculpture of a Hindu deity identified as Hanuman at Kralpora, Chadoora in Budgam District. The team claims that it is first time when any such archaeological find of this kind has been reported from Kashmir valley,” said Zahid.
He said the discovery team in its preliminary report has stated that the stone sculpture measuring 43 inches in height and 19 inches breadth has been identified as that of Hanuman in standing posture on lotus designed pedestal. The sculpture is dated to 9th century AD. It was the period when Kashmir was under the rule of Varma dynasty and Raja Avantivarmana was on the throne of Kashmir.
“He is recorded to have built his capital city at Awantipora. Besides he is known to have built two wonderful temples in his capital city. The remains of these massive stone temples are still found on the right bank of River Jhelum. These remains are being maintained by Archaeological Survey of India,” said Zahid.
It is pertinent to mention here that the State Archaeology Department earlier had found number of sculptures of Hindu and Buddhist deities which included the sculptures of Lord Buddha, Vishnu, Shiva Gaja Lakshmi, Ganesha and Kartkeya. These sculptures are housed and preserved in the Archaeological Gallery of SPS Museum at Lal Mandi, Srinagar.
Hanuman, as per the Hindu traditions is a famous deity, who was an ardent devotee of Lord Rama. He is a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and its various versions. He also finds mentioned in several other texts, including Mahabharata, the various Puranas and some Jain texts.
A Vanara (ape-like humanoid), Hanuman Ji participated in Rama’s war against the demon king Ravana. Several texts also present him as an incarnation of Lord Shiva. He is also considered the son of Vayu, who according to several myths played a role in his birth.
As such there is no record of any sculpture identified as Hanuman to have been found from any such archaeological site of Kashmir. This extremely rare sculpture is under the study of archaeological experts and final report and details are awaited and would be made public in near future. |
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