Project 2017-18
In the current field season the study of religious Landscape and architecture of Singrouli district, MP has been taken up under the direction of Dr. Madhulika Samanta and the first phase of the work has been completed at Bonddha Danda, Singrauli.
Introduction:
During the course of the survey, in 2017, the term of the Temple Survey Project (Northern Region) found that the religious remains of The Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and other religious affiliations of the eastern part of Madhya Pradesh remain neglected in the field of architectural studies for some reasons or other. Many important historical remains of the area which were reported earlier are in ruins now and detailed documentation of such vestiges as well as those of unreported ones are the need of the hour. Therefore the Temple Survey Project (Northern Region), ASI proposed the project called the “Landscape Archaelogical Study of Religious Architecture of Singrauli and its Surroundings” for the field season 2017-18.
The Study Area:
The study area is located at the north eastern part of Madhya Pradesh comprising the district of Singrauli. It is bound on the north by Allahabad and Mirzapur districts, on the east by Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh. On west lie Panna and on the south Katni districts of Madhya Pradesh is situated. The localities of Mada and Boudh Danda are situated within a radius of 40km from Singrauli town.
Problem and Objectives:
The analysis of the previous works would reveal that the work in the study area was restricted to the documentation of religious architecture by different institutions and agencies. Therefore no uniform methodology could be adopted for their documentation. Not only are these studies decades old, some of them are completing a century of their occurrence too. It is obvious that recent techniques and research methodology in architecture has evolved in the meantime and holistic approaches have been adopted to understand temples and their contexts which were not prevalent before. The topographical context of the region place it along ancient trade routes leading to Pataliputra. The area was also under the rule of various important dynasties. Therefore religious architecture of the region needs to be studied along with their surroundings to understand their origin, development, context and importance with respect to the empires which come into existence around it. With a view of above, the Temple Survey Project (Northern Region), ASI proposed fresh investigations into the study area with following objectives.
- To locate religious architecture of the study area which were reported earlier.
- To understand the current condition of these architecture and requirement of intervention from the Government level.
- To document (with the help of latest technologies) all reported and unreported religious architecture of the study area and their context.
- To understand the context of these temples and associated remains.
- To develop a methodology for future studies of similar religious architecture in the domain of landscape archaeological research.
- To build a suitable conservation plan of such site with their context in consideration.