India / 1,500-yr-old remains of Gupta period temple discovered in UP; pics released

Agra: Agra The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) found stairs and platform of a temple dating back to the Gupta period, during excavation at a protected site near Aliganj town of Etah district.

“There is a protected site in Bilsad village near Aliganj area of Etah district in Uttar Pradesh. It is believed to be the site of a temple built during the rule of the Gupta dynasty. Here we excavated two pillars on which there is an inscription about Kumargupta, the powerful ruler of Gupta dynasty, in ‘sankh lipi’ (conch script or shell script) typical of the fifth century AD,” informed Vasant Swarnkar, superintending archaeologist of Agra circle of ASI on Thursday.

‘”These inscriptions related to Kumargupta are already published and are well-known. At present cleaning work is underway at the site,” he said.

“When further excavation was undertaken to know the depth of the two pillars, we traced a well-finished stair and thereafter three more stairs, indicating that they must have been part of the entrance to a temple. In the centre there was a platform but cleaning work was stopped as there was no space. The fourth stair was the biggest and there were inscriptions in ‘sankh lipi’ (conch script or shell script) typical of fifth century,” said Swarnkar.

“The inscription was deciphered as ‘Mahendraditya’ which was the title of king Kumargupta who had even conducted ‘ashwamedh yagya’ during his rule. The statue of a horse having similar inscription is at the state museum in Lucknow,” he said.

“These excavations and inscription make us believe that they were part of a temple like structure but it is unknown as to which god or deity the temple is dedicated,” he said.