Excavation has started at Panditpur, a historical and archaeological site located at Ramgram-18 in West Nawalparasi. Earlier, additional excavations have been started at the site where the structure of the ancient city of the Buddhist period was found in the geophysics survey.
Bhaskar Gyawali, Senior Archaeological Officer of the Department of Archaeology, said that during the geophysical survey conducted in the south-west area of Panditpur, a circular structure was found under the ground.
It has been confirmed that the items found earlier are of the sixth century, he said, "This area is believed to be a large city and palace from the Buddhist period and even earlier." structure The Lumbini state government has allocated 1.5 million rupees, the Department of Archeology has allocated 9 million rupees and the Ramgram municipality has allocated 40 million rupees for the first phase of excavation. After the Lumbini Development Fund did not pay necessary attention to the excavation and development of this area, the locals formed a committee for the protection and development of Panditpur.
Ramgram Stupa and Panditpur are ancient places of Buddhist times and the local level will ensure the necessary budget in cooperation with Sangh and Lumbini Development Fund, said Dhanpat Yadav, Head of Ramgram Municipality.
Panditpur has been claimed as the capital of Kolyak Republic as well as the site of Buddha's shrine. V.No. From 2068 to 2072, during the excavations carried out by the Department of Archeology with the help of traditional techniques, pots, wells and bricks of the 8th century were found in this area.
Archeology area is spread over 60 bigha area in Panditpur area and geophysics survey has been done only in 30 bigha area. In the remaining part, geophysics survey has not been done due to lack of necessary budget and technology. From the archeological point of view, large development works and encroachments should be stopped in the protected area, but since this area is an old settlement, the land should be acquired only by paying compensation. The Department of Archeology says that there is no necessary budget for this. There is a demand of the local people that they should take responsibility for the protection of historical sites, but they should get the necessary compensation for the settlement and agricultural land .
Earlier, the ruins of a Buddhist pond and the structure of a vihara were found in Ramgram Stupa located in Ramgram Municipality-7. A team of experts from the Department of Archeology and the University of Durham in the UK found an important object in a month-long excavation in the northwest area of Stupa.
Buddhist period ponds and viharas have been found and the items used in them have been found in the excavations, so the scientific basis has been found for Ramgram to be listed in the World Heritage List. In the geophysics survey conducted in 2018, after the discovery of large Bihar, pond and other Buddhist materials, more excavation has been started to find out the actual condition.
