Bhubaneswar: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has written to Union Minister of Tourism and Culture Kishan Reddy to issue direction to Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to take over excavation and preservation of recently discovered 2,000-year-old post-Mauryan site at Odisha’s Barpali in Bargarh district.
In a letter to Reddy seeking his personal intervention in the matter, Pradhan said he had received a petition from Aswini Kumar Sarangi of Bargarh informing him of the discovery made by the History department of Gangadhar Meher University, Bargarh.
“Upon examination, I learnt that around 60 students, research scholars and faculty of the History department started the excavation at the site on May 31. The site, which is spread over 17 hectare, has yielded numerous priceless artefacts and antiquities dating back to the post-Mauryan period, which was about 2,000 years ago,” said Pradhan.
Stating that the findings indicated that the site was a well-established early trade centre, the minister said further digging could perhaps reveal even more startling revelations.
“Such a grand archaeological finding is both rare and extremely vulnerable. Considering the immense historical value and undiscovered potential of this new found archaeological site, I seek your personal intervention in directing officials of the ASI to take over the Barpali excavation site for better exploration, examination, analysis and security of the priceless antiquities and historical wealth,” he added.
