INDIA, July 25, 2008: Is Guwahati the site where the ancient kingdom of Kamrupa existed? This and many more questions, which are still mired in controversy, could be answered more vividly when the archeologists excavate the entire Bhaitbari-Tikrikilla area in Meghalaya’s West Garo Hills district.
Wadagokgre is the site of an ancient civilization; believe to be cast out of the mighty majesty Bramaputra River in the fourth century AD or even earlier. The site is located in a small remote hamlet in West Garo Hills of Meghalaya. The excavations so far have clearly demonstrated that this site was a sprawling township with Buddhism, Hinduism and amalgamation of the two being widely practiced in this area.
In 1992, AK Sharma of ASI, Nagpur excavated the site and unearthed the three temple sites – with numerous Shiva lingas – and a Buddhist Stupa.
But the prominent and the most impressive discovery of the site is this Octagonal Temple with eight miniature octagons, each having a Shiva Lingam. The structure is of a more magnificient architecture, having eight square subsidiary shrines radiating from the eight arms of the main octagon. This is perhaps one of the unique discoveries during the excavation.
“Further excavations are likely to reveal further remains of an earlier habitation, besides unravelling the historical antiquity of the plains-belt of the State of which very little is known from recorded history,” Williamson Sangma Museum curator Dr. Julius Marak said.