Ancient artwork relic discovered in Bangladesh

Oct 18, 2008, 9:53 GMT

Dhaka - Archaeologists in Bangladesh have discovered an ancient engraved stone, believed to be of the Gupta era nearly 2,000 years ago, in northern part of the country, a media report said on Saturday.

The sandstone, found on the bank of a pond near Sura Masjid at Ghoraghat sub-district of Dinajpur, has been put on display at an archaeological museum in Bogra, the Daily Start newspaper reported quoting museum officials.

The stonework depicts three figures dancing and holding ancient musical instruments. It escaped earlier excavations in Sura Masjid, one of the important archaeological sites of the country.

'The figures seem not be of human beings - the artwork represents dancing figures of some animals,' archaeologist Nahid Sultana, who excavated a number of archaeological sites, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa Saturday. He said the artwork might have been brought to the Sura Masjid site from elsewhere.

Officials of the archaeological department recovered the sandstone a month ago from Sura Masjid, which was built using stones between 1450 and 1500 AD, during the reign of Sultan Alauddin Hussain Shah, said archaeologist Badrul Alam.

He said such stones were used in Hindu or Buddhist constructions in the area during the Gupta period between 300 AD and 500 AD, an era that saw the emergence of the classical art forms and development of various aspects of Indian culture and civilization.