The invaluable treasure of ancient terracotta artworks on the walls of the twin Kapileswar Shiva Temples in Tarash upazila of Sirajganj is facing the risk of destruction as the temples have long been in a dilapidated condition.
Although a large number of terracotta decoration pieces have been stolen or misplaced over the years, the brick-built temples built in 1630-35AD still showcase an ample amount of such terracotta plaques. But the authorities have not yet declared them as a protected site.
A few senior officials of the Archaeology Department said several proposals in this regard have been sent to the ministry concerned since the country's independence, but to no avail. Nor have the ancient temples been renovated for the last 300 years. According to two Sanskrit inscriptions, Zamindar Prabir Balaram Roy renovated the temples in 1714 using bricks and other building materials.
An official of the Archaeology Department said there is no plan to declare the site protected or start any conservation work soon. Debendranath Ghosh, a septuagenarian resident of Tarash upazila, said he saw over 100 stone statues in the temples in his youth.
Another Tarash-resident, Tapan Goswami, said, "I have seen a large number of statues in the two Shiva temples and other temples in the area in my boyhood, but they have been stolen after the Liberation War." A survey conducted by the Archaeology Department 10 years ago revealed that at least 200 pieces of terracotta plaques were stolen or misplaced.
Tarash Police Station Officer-in-Charge Afzal Hossain said there are police records that a huge number of statues, terracotta plaques and other relics have been stolen from different temples in the area. "The police have so far recovered six stone statues from different areas and handed them over to the Archaeology Department," he said (Daily Star, January 12, 2008).
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