After reopening the Shiv-Hanuman temple in Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh after a gap of 46 years, an excavation team of the Archaeological Survey of India has discovered a step well i.e. an ancient stepwell in the Chandausi area of the district.
Sambhal District Magistrate Rajendra Pensia on Sunday confirmed that a ‘bowli’ with an area of 400 square meters was found. He told that this structure consisting of four chambers has some floors of marble.
Pensia told reporters at the spot, “An area of about 400 square meters is recorded as Ah-Baoli pond. It is said that this Baoli was constructed during the time of the grandfather of the king of Bilari. The second and third floors are made of marble. “And the upper floors are made of bricks. As we saw (in the excavation), there are about four chambers.”
He further said that the work has started after a public meeting on Saturday, in which the matter was brought to official attention, and further action will be taken to locate the entire structure.
The District Magistrate said, “The structure is completely covered with soil, the municipality team is removing the top soil. Currently only 210 square meters is outside and the rest is encroached upon. Action will be taken to remove the encroachment.”
The DM has further estimated that the structure could be more than 150 years old.
The municipal corporation official of the area told ANI that as soon as they got information about the underground structure, they started the work.
Municipal Corporation Executive Officer Krishna Kumar Sonkar said, “As soon as we came to know that there is a stepwell here, we started the excavation work here, as we continue the work, we will get more information about it. We We will try our best to restore it, we are working to see what is there.”
In another case, yesterday a team of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) surveyed the Kalki Vishnu temple in Sambhal. Earlier, a four-member ASI team had inspected five shrines and 19 wells in Sambhal.
DM Pensia said that the inspection lasted for 8-10 hours and covered a total of about 24 areas.
District Magistrate Pensia said, “It was a four-member team. Five shrines and 19 wells in Sambhal were inspected by the ASI. The new temple that was found was also inspected. The survey lasted 8-10 hours. Ancient temples were opened. “ASI will submit its report to us. A total of 24 areas were surveyed.”
