The Archaeological finding or material remains provide a
wide range of knowledge on the ancient history of Odisha.
Knowledge of pre-history from material remains
The discovery of Valentine Bali in Angul, Talcher, Dhenkanal
and Barsapalli in 1875 exposed the pre-historic sites of Odisha. Paramananda
Acharya of Mayurbhanj and C. Worman of Harvard University had discovered the
famous paleolithic site at Kulina. R.P. Chanda’s works on Mayurbhanj and G.C.
Mahapatra’s location of extensive paleolithic sites in Central and Northern
Odisha is great contributions to the early history of Odisha. The discovery of
Asokan rock art in Dhauli and his editors in Dhauli and Jaigarh shed
significant light on the Kalingan history of the third century B.C. Jaugada was
another fortified city that served the purpose of Asoka’s administration.
Sources of information through excavations by ASI and others
A new chapter in the history of Odisha opened with
excavations at Shishupalgarh run by Bibi Lal in 1949.
A fort with impressive entrances led historians to identify
with Kalinganagari, which is regarded as the capital of Kharavela. The art and
architecture of Khandagiri and Udayagiri added another source to the history of
ancient Odisha. In addition, the site of Shishupalgarh was excavated several
times by R.K. Moanty and Monica L. Smith discovering the material remains which
gives us a good idea on the socio-economic life of the people of the then
Odisha. Excavations at Manikapatna and Golabai have described the maritime
activities of the people of Odisha and the social and economic life of the people.
K.K. by recent excavations at Harirajpur and other places. Basa has revealed
many obscure aspects of Odisha's ancient history.
Excavations of Ratnagiri, Udayagiri, and Lalitgiri
Devala Mitra’s major excavation conducted at Ratnagiri
brought to limelight the imposing Buddhist monasteries and stupas with famous
Nagabandha. It flourished between the 5th-13th century A.D. as a center of the
Buddhist religion, art, and architecture.
Two other Buddhist sites at Udayagiri and Lalitgiri near
Ratnagiri project the remains of Buddhist and Hindu religion. Sri Madhavpura
Mahavihara and Simhastha Mahavihara which flourished between 7th-8th century
A.D. was located at Udayagiri.
Lalitgiri is a famous site with Buddhist stupas,
monasteries, Buddha images, three Buddhist relics, and images of Brahmin Divya.
Ratnagiri, Udayagiri, and Lalitgiri have also found
archaeological remains related to Brahmin religion, pottery, terracotta
plaques, iron tools, animals, and mother goddesses.
These three sites are also known as the 'Diamond Triangle'
of Odisha History and Archeology. All three sites contained a large number of
material remains like pottery, terracotta plaques, iron implements, articles of
household, figurines of mother goddesses, and animals which gives an idea of the dominance of Buddhism in that region.
Material remains of Western Odisha
The material remains have also played an important part in
revealing the history of Western Odisha. The temple-complex at Ranipur Jhanal
in Bo1angr contains several temples. The most important of them are the
64-Yogini temple and Somesvara Siva temple. The site developed around 7th-8th
century A.D. The material remains through excavations at Boudh, Margguda (also
known as Jonk), Sonepur, Amathgarh, Khaligarh, Manikgarh, etc. have thrown a
good deal of light on the history of Western Odisha. Partial excavations in
some of them have brought to light structures and icons which are assigned to
the time of the Nalas (Cir. 350-500 A.D.) and the Sarabhapuriyas (Cir. 500-700
A.D.). There is also a good amount of remains scattered over a wide area in
Puskari, the capital of Nalas, the capital of Polagarh (Navarangpur district).
Material remains of southern and the south-western parts of Odisha
The southern and south-western parts of Odisha have
speculated some specimens of the temples (shrines) of Pida or Bhadra. The
Gokarnesvara group on Mahendra mountain in the Gajapati district and the
Nilakantthesvara group on the Jagamunda hill in Rayagada district are the best
examples Of this kind. The existence of Sundara Mahadeva on the bank of a river
Rusikulya has given the opportunity to study the origin of this cult that developed
during Purusottamadeva of the Gajapati dynasty.
On the other hand, the temples of Odisha also provide
sources of information for the reconstruction of the history of Odisha. The common
Odisha style, Sikhara, or Rekha (curvature) is also known as the Kalingan style
of architecture developed in the 6_7th century. In Bhubaneswar. The
Lakshmaneshwar, Bharateshwara, and Satrughaneshwara group of temples marked the
initial phase of temple architecture in Odisha.
The Parashurameshwar group is an infection of the ornate
Mukteswara which later developed into Lingaraja, Jagannath, and Konark. The
Lingaraj, Jagannath, and Konarka marked the perfection of the Kalingan style of
architecture. The Black Pagoda marked the perfect stage of temple architecture
as well as iconography in Odisha in comparison to the other temples of Odisha.
These temples along with other temples like Ganesh temple at Panchama,
Biranchi-Narayan temple at Palia, Samalesvari temple at Sambalpur, etc throw
light on Saivism, Vaishnavism, Saktism, Ganapatya Cult, Sun worship, etc. Thus,
the material remains have been adequately used for the reconstruction of the
history of ancient Odisha.
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