In a remote village of the Doda district, in the Jammu division, the locals have found sculptures during a dig, drawing attention of a team of experts from the archives department.
The area of the discovery has been sealed off by the district administration. The stone sculptures, carvings, and two water storage systems with eight to ten drains made out of hard rock were found around 10 feet beneath the ground.
Speaking of the same, Doda district commissioner (DC) Vishesh Pal Mahajan told the newspaper that “a few days ago some villagers of Siwli village, in search of a water source, had started excavating a place and they found the antiques. We have now secured the area and a team of two to three experts from the Archives department is reaching the site on Thursday.”
“The team will conduct an initial study of the findings and the area and accordingly decide further course of action. They would be able to find out exactly how old the antiques are, but they are definitely very old,” said the DC.
Zakir Malik Bhallesi, a prominent writer and researcher from Bhalessa, told the newspaper that the sculptures, which feature carvings on them, are likely to be thousands of years old and warranted the attention of the experts from Archaeological Survey of India and academicians.
“As of now, we can’t say who made them and how old they are. In fact, a zoological lecturer Krishan Kant of Bhalessa was the first person who informed me about the discovery and then I met Mandeep Kumar, who actually had found them,” Bhallesi said.
