News Brief
Stepwell Dating Back Over A Century Found During Excavation In UP’s Sambhal District
Pic Via X
After the reopening of the Shiv-Hanuman temple in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district, over a century-old stepwell has now been unearthed in the Chandausi area of the district.
Sambhal District Magistrate Rajendra Pensiya on Sunday (22 December) confirmed the discovery of a 400-square-meter 'baoli' in the region.
According to him, the structure contains has around four chambers, with some floors made of marble.
"An area of around 400 square meters, is recorded in the form of Ah-Baoli Talab. It is said that this baoli was built during the time of the king of the grandfather of Bilari's king. The second and third floor is made up of marble and the upper floors are made of bricks. As we saw (from the excavation), around four chambers are there," Pensiya told reporters at the site, news agency ANI reported.
He added that the excavation commenced after a public meeting on Saturday brought the matter to official attention.
Now the authorities are working to unearth the whole structure.
"The structure is fully covered in mud, the Nagar Palika team is removing the topsoil. At present only 210 square meters are outside and the rest is occupied. Action will be taken to remove the encroachment," the District Magistrate said.
The excavation work began soon after information about an underground structure was received.
"As soon as we came to know that there is a babri here we started the excavation work here, as we continue the work, we will come to know more about this. We will try our best to restore this, we are working to see what all is here," said Krishna Kumar Sonkar, Municipal Corporation's Executive Officer.
Separately, an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) team conducted a survey at the Kalki Vishnu temple in Sambhal.
A four-member team from ASI inspected five 'teerths' (shrines) and 19 wells in the district.
According to DM Pensiya, the inspection spanned 8-10 hours and covered nearly 24 areas.
"It was a four-member team. In Sambhal, five 'teerth' and 19 wells were inspected by ASI. The new temple that was found was also inspected. The survey took place 8-10 hours...the ancient temple that was opened was also surveyed. ASI will submit its report to us... a total of around 24 areas were surveyed," Pensiya said.
