Bangalore: The Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage will undertake major excavation work in Talakkadu, the buried historic town where excavations started in 1992. For 900 years, the town had served as the capital of the Ganga dynasty. Historians believe that only 10 per cent of the ancient town has been excavated.
The town is located 133 km from Bangalore. The department of archaeology is awaiting final permission from the ArchaeÂological Survey of India (ASI) before starting work and a 7th century Jain temple will be the first monument to be excavated.
“We applied for the excavation permission about six months ago. We are aiming to finish the excavation of the 7th century Jain temple by March 2014,” said R. Gopal, director of archaeology.
He said the excavation work will take three months. “Early excavations in Talakkadu have unÂearthed artifacts as old as 5,000 years. The site has immense potential in terms of old temples and palaces hidden in the sand,” Gopal explained.
Presently the two ancient temples in Talakkadu —Vaidhyanateshwara and Keertinateshwara — are under the care of the ASI. The excavation work is the responsibility of the State Archaeology Department while the sand dunes are protected by the Geological Survey of India.
The Keertinateshwara temple was badly damaged during the rains in 2000. Deputy-director of the ASI, T. M. Keshava, said that ‘in the coming days we will restore the original idol of Keertinateshwara inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.
Once the rebuilding is complete, it can be opened for visitors.’ The archaeologists want the tourism department to do more to popularise the site. “Talakkadu is not just a religious destination. There are many things to explore here and the government must popularise this site,” Keshava said.
Additional Chief Secretary for Tourism Aravind Jadhav said that unless basic infrastructure for tourists is in place, the department cannot do much to attract tourists.
“There are many temples in the state that attract large numbers of devotees. But due to the involvement of multiple agencies and poor coordination, most of these sites lack basic infrastructure,” he said.
