Ancient Hindu idols, including ‘Shivlings’, were recovered during excavation work for the renovation of a spring in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district, officials said on Saturday.
The idols were recovered at Karkoot Nag in the Salia area of Aishmuqam in the south Kashmir district, the officials said.
They said the stone idols, many of whom have deities engraved on them, were recovered from Karkoot Nag during the course of excavation.
The Public Works Department is undertaking revival and restoration works in the spring and the local labourers recovered these during the excavation work, they added.
They said the officials of the Jammu and Kashmir Department of Archives, Archaeology and Museums visited the site, and added that the idols will be sent to Srinagar for material and dating testing to determine their age and origins.
“We will shift to SPS museum where they will be studied by research scholars and the department,” they said.
The site holds significance for Kashmiri Pandits who associate it with the Karkoota dynasty.
“There has been an impact of the Karkoota dynasty in this area, so there is a probability that a temple might have been there or someone might have kept them there for preservation,” a Kashmiri Pandit said.
He said the site, about 16 kms from district headquarters, has been a pilgrimage centre.
“These were recovered from the sacred pond. Some Shivlings, a sculpture and other items have been recovered. We want them to be protected and appeal to the government that we have heard there used to be a temple here, and so a new temple be built here and these ‘Shivlings’ be kept there,” he said.