NEW DELHI, Dec 22: Almost a week after the discovery and reopening of a Hanuman temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district after a gap of 46 years, an excavation team of the Archaeological Survey of India found an old stepwell in the Chandausi area of the district.
The stepwell, estimated to be spread around 400 square metres, has four chambers and a few floors made of marble, said Sambhal’s District Magistrate Rajendra Pensiya on Sunday. “An area of around 400 square metres is recorded in the form of Ah-Baoli Talab. It is said that this baoli was built during the time of the king of the grandfather of Bilari’s king. The second and third floor is made up of marble and the upper floors are made of bricks. As we saw (from the excavation), around four chambers are there,” Mr Pensiya said.
He further said the work started after a public meeting on Saturday. The matter has been brought to the official attention and further action will be taken to unearth the whole structure, he added.
“The structure is fully covered in mud, the Nagar Palika team is removing the topsoil. At present only 210 square metres are outside and the rest is occupied. Action will be taken to remove the encroachment” the District Magistrate said.
The DM has further estimated that the structure could be over 150 years old. The officer of the Municipal Corporation in the area said that they started the work as soon as they got the information about a structure underground.
“As soon as we came to know that there is a baoli here we started the excavation work, as we continue the work, we will come to know more about this. We will try our best to restore this, we are working to see what all is here,” said Krishna Kumar Sonkar, Municipal Corporation’s Executive Officer.
In another case, yesterday, an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) team surveyed the Kalki Vishnu temple in Sambhal after a four-member team from the ASI inspected five ‘teerths’ (shrines) and 19 wells in Sambhal. DM Pensiya informed that the inspection lasted for 8-10 hours and covered a total of approximately 24 areas.
It comes after Sambhal district authorities reopened a temple which had been locked since 1978 following communal riots. The officials said the temple near the Shahi Jama Masjid was discovered during an anti-encroachment drive. The Bhasma Shankar temple houses an idol of Lord Hanuman and a Shivling.
(Manas Dasgupta)