ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERY

WADAGOKGRE (BHAITBARI) - -MEGHALAYA’S GLORIOUS PAST

Meghalaya has presently been classified as a tribal area with a comparatively recent cultural history but excavations in the Garo Hills have revealed evidence of an ancient past.

In 1957, Shri Prafulla Chakravarty spotted some ponds and terracotta figurines in the Bhaitbari area as well as a number of Sivalingas. In 1984, Shri. Shivanand Sharma of Dhubri visited the area and wrote letters to the editor of Assam Tribune stressing the need to excavate the cultural heritage of the Garos and Koch tribes. However, the importance of the site was re-emphasized only recently when the prehistory branch of the Archaeological Survey of India undertook to scientifically conduct archaeological excavations in Meghalaya.

Two months of dedicated work revealed that Bhaitbari, 235 kilometers west of Guwahati in the West Garo Hills, was once the capital of Kamrup sometime at the beginning of the earlier. The excavations so far have demonstrated that this was a sprawling township where Buddhism and Hinduism and an amalgamation of both was widely practiced. Some 2,000 years ago, the town was located on the left bank of the Brahmaputra which at that time flowed nearby. The township was well fortified with a large number of tanks on the banks of which and on other superior heights some burnt brick temples were built. More than a dozen temple sites have been discovered so far. Evidence clearly shows that there must have been palatial complexes and residential areas for the town population.

The plan of a beautiful burnt brick temple has been exposed which reveals that it was composed of three components : the garbhagriha , the antarala and mandapa. The temple faces east and the outer walls were decorated with beautiful terracotta tiles. The maximum length of the temple east-to-west, including the retaining wall behind the garbhagriha is 11 metres while the retaining wall behind is 2.22 metres wide. The temple has been built on the several-offsets. The foundation consists of brick rubble. Both the garbhagriha and the mandapa are square in plan inside . The garbhagriha is 4.40 x 4.40 metres while the mandapa is 2.50 x 2.50 metres wide. The walls are made of burnt brick. Interestingly there is evidence of circular rammed and charred earth with charcoal marks at the entrance to the mandapa which indicate that a puja might have been performed before the temple there are signs that scaffoldings were erected, as for the first time, holes in which the posts were placed, have been noticed.

Except for the rear portion of the temple, the other three sides, particularly the space between the two corners of the ratha, are decorated with terracotta tiles above the tala and below the greeva area. Tiles have been fixed to the walls with the help of one or two holds luted to the back of the tiles. The tiles covered so far depict the figures of four-armed Ganesha, holding the parasu, mula and modak in three hands while the fourth is in the bhoomi sparsh mudra, Tara in the dhyan mudra, Kubera, Yaksha, Kali, Heruka, dancers and musicians playing instruments like the mridanga. The most important find is a figure of Rama in the bow-breaking mudra. The figures, each a masterpiece, have been beautifully carved in relief.

An anthropomorphic stone at the southern side has also been recovered with appears to have been used as a sacrificial stone.

The stylistic features of the terracotta tiles indicate that the temple can be dated to around the ninth-tenth centuries AD. The discovery of an engraved elevation model of a temple on a huge boulder in a nullah within the fortified area, shows that the temple was probably a rekha-deul type with a sikara some six storeys high.

An octagonal Siva temple has also been exposed, which is unique in plan and faces east. Inside the main octagon, 6.40 metres in diameter, there are eight miniature octagons each with a Sivalinga placed inside a yoni, the centre of which is also octagonal to hold the lower octagonal half of the linga. The entire floor is paved with burnt bricks. Eight square subsidiary shrines radiate from the arms of the main octagon. The absence of any lingas in these square shrines makes it difficult to say whether they housed lingas or matrikas. The diameter from square shrine to square shrine is 12 metres. At the junction of the two arms of the main octagon and between the two miniature octagons, square pillar bases have been found. The amount of recovered debris and the method of construction show that above floor level, the super structure rested on eight wooden poles with another pole in the centre thus making the super structure octagonal. The roof might have been of bamboo and grass according to the environmental and local construction methods. The temple was built on a commanding position overlooking the mighty Brahmaputra in the west and the Garo Hills in the north and east. Steps approaching the temple have also been discovered to the east of the temple. The entire structure is of well baked burnt bricks while the linga, yoni and pillar bases are of stone. The greatest discovery, however, is a mud stupa, the outer face of which is lined with burnt bricks. A single layer of burnt bricks were laid on the semi-circular mud structure in the form of boxes which were filled with brickbats. This is the first stupa discovered in Meghalaya and can be dated around the fourth century AD. Mud stupas in India date to the earliest time and, if we are lucky, we may discover the relic casket. A beautiful terracotta figure of the starving Buddha has been discovered near the stupa which is reminiscent of Kusana art. There are indications that a number of viharas and monasteries lie buried. The stupa was located on the left bank of the Brahmaputra which at the time flowed near the present site.

The mud-cum-burnt bricks fortification runs some four to five kilometres in a circular fashion, a part of which extended along the left bank of the river. The fortification has been built according to the contours of the hills. A deep moat runs along its outer side while on the inside, a rammed pathway, 3.30 metres wide, runs throughout the entire length of the wall. Cuttings were made at two places to ascertain the width and stratigraphic position of the mud and brick wall. It is evident that in the first phase only a mud rampart, nearly 6 metres wide, was raised. Later, to strengthen the outer surface, a 1.20 metre wide wall of burnt brick was added. Evidence shows that the fortification wall was enlarged in width at least three times and till now 52 courses of bricks have been exposed. One of the cuttings shows that the burnt brick wall was repaired twice and the wall raised over a foundation of boulders. A suspected stepped entrance on the southern side, a regular gateway on the eastern side and a number of bastions have also been located within the fortification. Bhaitbari could easily be called one of the greatest habitations east of the Brahmaputra. Evidence exists that this ancient township was destroyed and deserted when the Brahmaputra flooded the area, after which the river changed course and now flows ten kilometres away near Dhubri. When the town was destroyed, it inhabitants must have fled to the Garo Hills. To further understand the layout of the entire township of the fourth-fifth centuries onwards, it is necessary to excavate and expose larger areas and the important structural remains so as to unravel Meghalaya’s glorious past.