Nalanda style Buddha statues unearthed in Midnapore

Statues of Buddha at the site at Moghalmari in West Midnapore [Credit: Samir Mondal]

The statues were discovered yesterday at Dantan’s Moghalmari village, 180km from Calcutta and near the Odisha border, by a team of Calcutta University archaeologists.

“It appears to us that this was an institution on the lines of Nalanda. Some of the decorations found are similar to those in Nalanda,” said Asok Datta, a professor of archaeology and a former head of the department who has been leading the team.

Datta said monastic complexes were found in Murshidabad and Malda around two decades ago but the one in Dantan is the biggest yet in Bengal so far. “It appears the ruins of the monastic complex is the largest so far found in Bengal, measuring about 3,600 square metres.”

The archaeologist said the complex and the statues traced their roots to the reign of Sasanka, who ruled Bengal between 590 and 626 AD. http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2012/03/nalanda-style-buddha-statues-unearthed.html