An ancient sculpture of a lion was unearthed during excavation in the premises of historic Emar Mutt near the Jagannath Temple here on Monday.
A portion of the sculpture was reportedly damaged during the digging work.
With the discovery of the ancient sculpture in the precincts of Emar Mutt in a broken state, locals as well as intellectuals, who have been consistently objecting to the Shreemandir Parikrama project, accused the authorities of not undertaking ground-penetrating radar survey (GPRS) before carrying out the digging work at the periphery of the centuries old shrine.
Various social and political outfits have been claiming that there are archaeological remains adjacent to the temple. Opposing the State Government’s much-hyped Parikrama project, political parties including the BJP says the ongoing excavation activities under the project will affect the safety of the temple.
Raising concern over the shrine’s safety, an intervening petition on “illegal digging” around the temple has also been filed by one Dilip Baral at the Orissa High Court.
Recently, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) urged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to halt the construction work in the periphery of Srimandir till disposal of the case in the High Court.
In a letter dated May 13, INTACH reiterated that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has not given permission to the proposed construction of various amenities within the prohibited area of 100 metres around Srimandir and told the court that the excavation works have damaged the archaeological remains around the temple.