The remains of a Buddhist monastery, believed to belong to the 8th century, was discovered in the bed of the Kelua river near village Bedipur under Dharmasala block in Jajpur district recently.
Noted Buddhist researcher Dr Nrusingh Sahoo and his team members unearthed a portion of the monastery after doing spadework.
“The Bedipur area is surrounded by the old Buddhist sites of Kaima and langudi. Our search yielded around ten stone images, brickbats and pottery in red colour. The mounds were formed on huge boulders, on which a brick-built stupa was raised,” said Dr Sahoo.
“We have already informed Culture Department and other officials about the discovery of a Buddha stupa in the riverbed,” he said.
“We also found two tanks during our excavation work. We believe Buddhist monks used to store drinking water in both the tanks. The discovery of some more earthen materials like potsherds and decoration pottery has given rise to a belief that a treasure trove was lying buried under the riverbed,” he further said.
“The Buddhist remains found in the river show that Buddhism existed from the 1st Century BC to the 10th Century AD,” added Dr Sahoo.