{"id":135482,"date":"2021-09-20T17:54:27","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T12:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=135482"},"modified":"2021-09-21T18:10:14","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T12:40:14","slug":"explained-how-a-gupta-era-temple-in-etah-has-put-focus-back-on-shankhalipi-script","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/explained-how-a-gupta-era-temple-in-etah-has-put-focus-back-on-shankhalipi-script\/","title":{"rendered":"Explained: How a Gupta era temple in Etah has put focus back on shankhalipi script"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
What is the News?<\/b><\/h5>\n

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)<\/strong> discovered remains of an ancient temple dating back to the Gupta period (5th century) in Bilsarh village in Uttar Pradesh\u2019s Etah district.<\/span><\/p>\n

Note<\/strong>: <\/span>The Bilsarh site was declared as a \u2018protected\u2019 site in 1928. Every year, the ASI undertakes scrubbing work at the protected sites.<\/span><\/p>\n

What has the ASI discovered?<\/b><\/h5>\n

ASI has<\/span> discovered two decorative pillars <\/strong><\/span>of an ancient temple<\/strong> dating back to the Gupta period (5th century).<\/span><\/p>\n

The stairs of the temple had \u2018shankhalipi\u2019 inscriptions<\/strong>. The inscription possibly reads <\/span>Mahendraditya which was the title of king Kumaragupta I<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

This discovery<\/span> becomes significant since only two other structural temples from the Gupta age have been found so far \u2014 Dashavatara Temple<\/strong> (Deogarh) and Bhitargaon Temple<\/strong> (Kanpur Dehat).<\/span><\/p>\n

What is \u200b\u200b<\/b>Shankhalipi Script?<\/b><\/h5>\n
\"Shankhalipi
Source: Indian Express<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shankhalipi Script is also called a \u201cshell-script<\/strong>\u201d. It is found in inscriptions across north-central India and dates back to between the 4th and 8th centuries<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was discovered in 1836<\/strong> on a brass trident in Uttarakhand\u2019s Barahat by English scholar James Prinsep<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, the script is found to be similar to the Brahmi Script as both are stylised scripts used primarily for names and signatures.<\/span><\/p>\n

The inscriptions consist of a small number of characters, suggesting that the shell inscriptions are names or auspicious symbols or a combination of the two.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prominent sites with shell inscriptions include the Mundeshwari Temple in Bihar<\/strong>, the Udayagiri Caves in Madhya Pradesh<\/strong>, Mansar in Maharashtra<\/strong> and some of the cave sites of Gujarat and Maharashtra. In fact, shell inscriptions are also reported in Indonesia\u2019s Java and Borneo.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:<\/b> This post is based on the article<\/span> \u201c<\/b>Explained: How a Gupta era temple in Etah has put focus back on shankhalipi script<\/b>\u201d <\/b>published in<\/span> Indian Express on 16th September 2021.<\/b><\/p>\n

Terms to know:<\/strong><\/p>\n