Cuttack: Cuttack chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has found ruins of a possible Eastern Ganga era fort and maritime archaeological remains of an ancient port city near Balukhanda sanctuary close to Konark-Puri marine drive road in the Puri. The remains of the fort first came to the notice of a local INTACH member Satyajit Swain who reported the findings.
A five-member team of the Cuttack Chapter conducted several visits to the site to document the ruins of the medieval-era fort and the lost port city. The remnants of the fort were discovered near the Garudeswara Temple of Khalakatapatana village in Konark block of Puri. As per sources, the maritime remains at Khalakatapatana were earlier reported by researchers and some archaeological excavations had been conducted in the past.
However, the INTACH team excavated additional archaeological evidence from the site. “Large number of fragmented potteries that include Chinese Celedon, Egg white glazed ware, dark grey pottery, black red pottery, knobbed ware, red ware were found at the site. Some of the potteries share possible connections to Roman, African, Chinese, and Southeast Asian cultures. Khalakatapatana was a port town, a hub of maritime trade in the medieval era, as it had the advantage of being situated at mouth of the Kushabhadra River,” said a member.
According to Deepak Kumar Nayak, who was leading the team, local legends say that the ancient name of Khalakatapatana was Dihapatana and it was within the territory of Gadarupasa, a greater Gada (fort) under the Eastern Gangas. There were 16 forts established by the Gangas around the Konark Sun Temple to provide security to its grand architecture. Accounts of Bayachakada (a palm-leaf manuscript that describes the building operation and financial expenditure of Konark temple) mention about Gadarupasa where a camp was formed for architects involved in the construction of the temple. The brick wall of the fort is visible in many places along with a base of a temple or palace. Fragmentary stone blocks, huge stone pillars, and some ancient statues were also found at the site.
ARINDAM GANGULY, OP