M A I N   N E W S

China ready to contact Dalai Lama

BEIJING, Dec 5 (DPA) — China today reaffirmed its willingness to meet the Dalai Lama, a day after the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said his brother had travelled to Beijing to reopen a dialogue stalled for two years.

“There are channels for contact and we have adhered to several principles in our contact with the Dalai Lama”, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue told a press conference.

“The channels are clear”, Ms Zhang said, but she neither confirmed nor denied reports from India quoting the Dalai Lama as saying his brother, Mr Gyalo Thundup, visited China this year to pass on his views to Communist Party leaders.

The Dalai Lama has asked the Chinese Government to allow him to send a “fact-finding” mission to Tibet, reports from India said.

China was willing to negotiate with the Dalai Lama if he accepts its conditions, Ms Zhang said.

Two rare Vishnu statues excavated
in Kaithal village
From K.G. Dutt
Tribune News Service

KURUKSHETRA, Dec 5 — The Kurukshetra Development Board (KDB) has once again unravelled the glorious past of this region.

Its two archaeologists, Mr Rajesh Purohit, who is working as a Curator of the Shri Krishna Museum, and Mr R.S. Rana (lecturer guide) in the museum, has digged out rare statues in Rasina village situated on the Karnal-Kaithal border. This village, known as Rin Mochan Teertha during the Puranic age, was earlier a part of Karnal district before Kaithal district was carved out of it.

The two archaeologists digged out two rare statues of Lord Vishnu from the sarovar attached to Rin Mochan Teertha. The statues date back to the 9th century AD and throw light on the ancient culture and history of Kurukshetra periphery, which was spread over an area of 48 kos.

The find is not a matter of chance but the result of the great pains both archaeologists took to dig the statues out. Had they not done it, the villagers would have destroyed these with tractors and furrows which were being used to dig and widen the sarovar.

Mr Purohit had earlier unearthed an ancient mound in Bohr Shyam village (Karnal district), which has now been declared a preserved ancient monument by the Survey of India.

Rin Mochan Teertha in Rasina village finds mention in Vaman Purana, Brahma Purana and Matsya Purana. According to Hindu mythology, a holy dip in Rin Mochan Teertha absolved one of the three debts — ‘Pitra Rin’, ‘Rishi Rin’ and ‘Matri Rin’. According to the Puranas, every individual owes these debts and has to get absolved of all three to attain ‘Moksha’.

The two statues have been digged out from the stratified remains of a temple.

When this reporter visited the site, he was told that the two archaeologists had been directed by Mr Girish Arora, Chief Executive Officer of the KDB, to inspect the site.

The villagers who were engaged in digging operations to widen Rin Mochan Sarovar with tractors and furrows saw a structure and also found out a fractured piece of a statue of Lord Vishnu. Immediately, Mr Ishwar Singh, sarpanch of the village, approached the KDB authorities, who directed them to meet the officials in the Shri Krishna Museum.

It was on the request of the villagers that the Chief Executive Officer directed the team to reach the spot and undertake digging. The team started digging at the site on December 3. Parts of an ancient temple were unearthed. However, it was found that only 40 per cent of the temple’s plinth was intact as the remaining portions had been destroyed during digging.

The team also found two sculptures of Lord Vishnu after more digging beyond the western edge of the temple.

Mr Purohit told TNS that the rarity of the site was the unusual size of bricks used in the destroyed temple. The bricks are of the size — 31 x 21x 5cm.

He maintained that this had established that the two rare sculptures belonged to the Pratihara dynasty, which ruled this region from 8th to 11th century AD. The dynasty was responsible for protecting the country from attacks by Arabian invaders.

Mr Purohit explained that the Pratihars were known for their village administration. During their rule, there used to be a cluster of 84 villages, which formed a mega group for the purpose of administration.

Sculptures during the Pratihara rule were made of sandstone. The peculiarity of the sculpture of the Pratihara period was that it showed both Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva atop the sculpture, which donated the completion of the trinity comprising Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Mahesha.

In addition to this, ‘Ayudhas’ of Lord Vishnu in the form of “chakra” and “shankh” have also been personified at the feet of these statues. These are manifested in the anthropomorphic form in the statues. One of the two statues is made of chloride schist and has blackish green colour, while the other is in sandstone.

The curator explained that chloride schist was a popular stone, used earlier in Gandhara sculptures. The presiding deity in the Sun Temple at Konark is also made of green schist. This is a metamorphic rock. Its sculptures are rare. Intricate carvings are the hallmark of the two sculptures. One such sculpture was also digged out in Beri village (Rohtak district). This is now on display in the Shri Krishna Museum here.

It is learnt that the panchayat has made a written appeal to the Haryana Governor, Babu Parmanand, who is also the Chairman of the KDB, to donate the two sculptures to the Shri Krishna Museum on behalf of the panchayat.