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 of the Paschim Medinipur district of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

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

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

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.

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 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 a ...

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 ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

'' 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 ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati. The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a g ...

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

Geography

Location

Excavation

References

See also