The Pachriha pond of Gaurav Gram Lakhuri under the Bamhnidih block of the district is being deepened. While digging for deepening, a store of ancient statues is found in this historic Pachriha pond. These statues are said to be from the 12th century. This pond was built by the then king here. Currently, the work of deepening this pond is being done, and the villagers are getting a store of metals made of ashtadhatu apart from many statues. These ancient statues have been handed over to the Archaeological Department for storage in Mahant Ghasidas Museum Raipur. The history of these ancient statues will be investigated.
Dr. P.C. Parakh, Deputy Director of Archaeology and Prabhat Kumar Singh, Archaeologist, inspected Lakhuri village and Pachriha pond and said that this pond used to be an ancient pond earlier. Stairs made of red sandstone can be seen on the north and east banks of the pond. In the middle of the pond, there is a 25-foot high pillar (Lat or Khambha) made of stone rings. Remains of architectural parts of an ancient temple such as Vithan, pillar, Amalaka are lying under the banyan tree near the pond.
The newly built Kaleshwari temple near the pond houses Umamaheshwar, warrior, Shiva Tandava and other fragmented statues. The sanctum sanctorum of the Shiva temple next to it houses an ancient Shivalinga and a couple of Nandi and Lakshmi Narayan, independent statues of Surya and, Vishnu and Lakshmi. These statues are said to be from the 12th-century Kalchuri period. The miniature statues of Ganesh, a warrior, and an elephant found while cleaning the pond in Lakhuri village have been kept safely in the Raipur Museum by the Archaeological Department after getting a Panchnama done by the villagers.
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