A GEOSPATIAL analysis utilising satellite images and ground surveys has found evidence of the presence of “huge architectural wealth” buried in the Mahabodhi temple complex and its surroundings in Bihar’s Bodh Gaya, officials said on Saturday. The study has been carried out by the Bihar Heritage Development Society (BHDS), a wing of the Art, Culture and Youth Department, in collaboration with the Cardiff University of the United Kingdom. The Mahabodhi temple complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is one of the four holy areas related to the life of Lord Gautam Buddha. Bodh Gaya is a place where Lord Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment.

 

“The study has unearthed evidence of the presence of archaeological treasure beneath the soil of the UNESCO World Heritage site and its surrounding areas…It’s a huge architectural wealth that needs further excavation,” the Art, Culture and Youth Department’s Additional Chief Secretary Harjot Kaur Bamhrah told PTI. The UK-based varsity and the BHDS are cooperating in the project, ‘Archaeologyonthefootsteps of the Chinese traveller Xuanzang’. NationalInstitute of Advanced Studies faculty member MBRajni studied satellite images of the Mahabodhi temple and its surroundings and tried to correlate the findings with thedescriptionof‘Xuanzang’, she said.