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| Boundary wall around the ancient mound, Beswak |
There is some good news from village
Beswak in Nalanda district. With the efforts of Shri Dinanand Pandey, an
ancient mound in Beswak has now been protected by constructing a boundary wall
around the mound. In the Magadha region of Bihar, there are hundreds of
villages that are settled over ancient remains. Beswak is one such village. Antiquities are spread throughout this village suggesting that it was an important
Buddhist centre in the past. There are many ancient sculptures of Buddha and
Hindu deities scattered all around. There are many prominent mounds with the
biggest one at the centre of the village spreading more than 2.5 acres and
averaging 15 ft in height. In recent years this mound has been a target of land
grabbers.
Shri Dinanath
Pandey understands the need to protect the mound, and is therefore generating
awareness among fellow villagers. He has taken the matter also to the
government officials concerned. Shri Pandey’s efforts paid off
finally when he got to meet the officials of the Archaeological Directorate,
Department of Art, Culture and Youth (DACY), and officials in the District
administration. In 2015, DACY allocated 54 lacs INR for making a boundary wall
around the mound. Harsh Ranjan Kumar, a Senior Technical Assistant in DACY, played
a very important role in convincing the department officials of the need to
safeguard this prominent mound.
Beswak is situated 50 kms south of Patna,
the capital of Bihar, and 35 kms south-west of Bihar Sharif, headquarters of
Nalanda District. Beswak has many ancient sculptures lying unprotected under
the open sky. According to Pandey ji and
other villagers, the village collective of ancient sculptures that had numerous
sculptures until a few years ago has now only few broken
fragments. Pandey ji is aware of the importance of getting these remaining
sculptures secured. He is trying to persuade fellow villagers to create a small
museum with the help of contributions from villagers.
There are more than 500 villages in
Magadha that has ancient remains in the form of mounds and sculptures. It is
practically impossible for the government to protect the mounds in all the
villages. There is an urgent need to create awareness among villagers about the
significance of these mounds and the necessity to protect them.
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| Google map depicting village Beswak settled over the ancient monastic remains. |
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| Aerial view of the ancient mound, pic 2009, Yves Guichard |
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| Shri Dinanand Pandey in front of the mound. Pic 2011 |
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| Sanction letter by DACY of the work |
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| Shri Dinanand Padey with the inspecting team led by the District Magistrate, Nalanda |
Thanks to Aparajita Goswami
