After a 16-year hiatus, the famed and ancient Barabati Fort in Cuttack, Odisha, was excavated, and on the first day, a fractured structural fragment—a human face of a stone sculpture—was discovered. On the first day of excavating, this artifact was discovered in a trench that was northeast of the fort’s remnant pillared hall.
Dibishida Gadnayak, director of the Archaeological Survey of India in Puri, spoke to a media house about the excavation project and the sculpture and stated that the goal of this round of digging is to unearth historical artifacts and evidence that will help to establish the ancient link between Southeast Asian nations, India, and Odisha. According to legend, India previously had close nautical ties with Bali and Sumatra.
According to Gadnayak, the trench where the artifact was discovered looks to have two to three meters of deposits, and the piece, based on its style, appears to be from the 13th or 14th century.
Four locations within the fort have been chosen for the current digging phase.
The Fort was proclaimed protected by ASI in 1915, and the first excavation was carried out in 1989. The fort had not been excavated since 2007.
In the past, the fort was dug up with the intention of determining its cultural chronology. A sitting goddess, a lamp fragment, a lion’s head, pieces of stone pots and balls, sling balls, bits of terracotta animal figurines, an axe, and an iron stylus were among the significant artifacts discovered during the excavating.
Numerous pottery objects, such as spouted vessels, storage jars, knobbed lids, small dishes, bowls, and pots, as well as lamps, a fragment of a hookah, and some Chinese porcelain were also discovered.
The ruins of a palace, a pavilion, and rhodolite foundation blocks were discovered in the central mound region of the fort during the excavation that took place there in 1989. 18 large pillar bases were seen in the southern region, arranged in four rows at regular intervals.
History of Barabati
In order to defend Cuttack, then known as Kataka, Maharaja Markata Keshari of the Somvanshi dynasty constructed a stone embankment, giving rise to Barabati.
Different people have different ideas regarding when Barabati Fort was built. According to legend, King Anangabhima Deva III of the Eastern Ganga dynasty came from the southern side of the Mahanadi and noticed an unusual sight. He saw a heron pounce on a hawk. After that, the village was given the name Barabati Cuttack, and on a lucky day, the fort’s foundation was constructed.
The Bengali Karranis took control of the Fort in 1568, and it then passed into the hands of the Mughal Empire in 1576 and the Maratha Empire in 1741. Cuttack and the rest of Odisha were placed under British control in 1803.
