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     Abhinav Junior Artist Username: Abhinav Post Number: 619 Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 208.94.244.34 Rating: N/A |
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-07-17/trave l/37330050_1_excavations-fatehpur-sikri-mughal-emperor-akbar Basing his arguments on the excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 1999-2000 at the Chabeli Tila, senior Agra journalist Bhanu Pratap Singh said the antique pieces, statues, and structures all point to a lost "culture and religious site," more than 1,000 years ago "The excavations yielded a rich crop of Jain statues, hundreds of them, including the foundation stone of a temple with the date. The statues were a thousand years old of Bhagwan Adi Nath, Bhagwan Rishabh Nath, Bhagwan Mahavir and Jain Yakshinis," said Swarup Chandra Jain, senior leader of the Jain community. The Jains comprise about 0.4 percent of India's population of 1.2 billion and are a generally religious, prosperous and literate community. Historian Sugam Anand said: "The findings should have led to serious research, but that was not done. You need time and resources. Definitely before Akbar built his capital in Fatehpur Sikri, there is proof of habitation, of temples and commercial centres. The open space on the ridge was used by Akbar to build his capital. But we still need a lot of research." The statues and artefacts discovered buried in a pond have been kept in a guest house in Fatehpur Sikri by the ASI. Talking us, Bhanu Pratap Singh, the author of "Jain Dharm Ka Pramukh Kendra Tha Fatehpur Sikri," said: "Sikri existed much before Akbar. The excavations have clearly established this fact." D.V. Sharma, former superintending archaeologist of the ASI in Agra, who supervised the excavations, said: "We found scores of damaged statues piled up, and with dates, also a manuscript. These are now lying in the guest house at Fatehpur Sikri. They should have gone ahead with the excavations and engaged historians to research on the subject." |
