Rare eleventh century idol on Bastar hilltop razed

Bhopal: An 11th century giant Ganesha idol built at a height of 2,994 feet above sea level over Dholkal hilltop in Chhattisgarh’s south Bastar district of Dantewada, one of the high-altitude open temples of India, has been “pulled off” by mischievous elements and found broken into pieces at the foothill, officials said on Friday.

The shocking incident has also triggered outrage not only among the local tribal devotees but also among the archaeologists in Chhattisgarh. It was one of the key tourist destinations of Chhattisgarh.

Known as “Dantewada’s wonder”, the 3.5-feet-long idol, built by the erstwhile Chindak Nagvami dynasty, ruling the region in 10-13th century, was the only “surviving adventurous archaeological monument” in the country.

“It is a shocking incident. It was the only surviving adventurous archaeological monument in the country since it still has been riddled with mystery as to how such a giant idol could be chiselled and installed at a hilltop having virtually no passage from the ground. An extremely steep narrow and unusable passage leads to the hilltop where the exquisitely built idol, made of black granite, was installed overlooking the entire Dantewada district,” archaeologist Atul Kumar Pradhan told this newspaper on Friday.

The picture of the temple sans idol has gone viral in WhatsApp, prompting Dantewada district collector Sourav Kumar and SP Kamal Lochan Kashyap to rush to the spot along with security personnel. They found the idol in 10 broken pieces in the jungle at the foothill.

“The broken pieces of the idol have been brought to nearby Faraspal village,” Bastar range inspector general of police S.R.P. Kalluri said.

Preliminary police investigation has pointed to Naxals’ hand in the incident.

“Local villagers told the officials visiting the spot that they had spotted armed Naxals in uniform moving in the area 2-3 days back,” he said, adding, “Naxals felt threatened as the site was gradually becoming a tourism destination.”

Another account from the area said a chopper was seen encircling the hilltop a couple of days ago. The account suspected that it might be an unsuccessful bid by international antique smugglers to steal the ancient idol.