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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Old stone Shivalinga unearthed in Trimbakeshwar

Mumbai: The Archaeological Survey of India is going places, literally. Barely a week after unearthing rare copper plates linked to two powerful ancient dynasties, the ASI struck ‘history’ again - this time at the famed Trimbakeshwar Temple in Nashik district, officials said. In a stunning discovery during an ongoing conservation drive, ASI archaeologists found an old stone Shivalinga resting in the silent depths of the temple’s historic Amrit Kund, a massive water reservoir where it...

Old stone Shivalinga unearthed in Trimbakeshwar

Mumbai: The Archaeological Survey of India is going places, literally. Barely a week after unearthing rare copper plates linked to two powerful ancient dynasties, the ASI struck ‘history’ again - this time at the famed Trimbakeshwar Temple in Nashik district, officials said. In a stunning discovery during an ongoing conservation drive, ASI archaeologists found an old stone Shivalinga resting in the silent depths of the temple’s historic Amrit Kund, a massive water reservoir where it remained submerged beneath years of silt, mud and stagnant water. The Shivlinga emerged into view only after the ASI team drained the lakhs of litres of water and undertook an extensive desilting operation in the Amrit Kund. Resting silently at the bottom of the nearly 20-metre-deep reservoir, the ancient relic left conservation experts plus archaeologists astonished and the locals excited. Since it was lying at the bottom of the 65-feet (20-metre) deep Amrit Kund, it is not immediately clear if the Shivalinga will be extricated from there and relocated to a new terrestrial site, or make its way to some other location or a museum. The water tank will be again filled up to the brim as the current monsoon gets underway. It was constructed by Peshwa Balaji Bajirao-III, revered as Nana Saheb, between 1755-1786 AD along with the reconstruction of the main Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga Temple that was destroyed by the Mughal army between 1680-1690 AD. The discovery marks the second major archaeological breakthrough by the ASI in a week. Last week, the ASI had announced the recovery of two rare copper plates belonging to the Chalukyas of Navasarika (655–750 AD) and the Traikutaka dynasty (388–495 AD), from the World Heritage site of Elephanta Island off Mumbai, shedding fresh light on western India’s ancient political and cultural history. ASI to revamp Red Fort The ASI this week announced that it will carry out major restoration drives at 140 of Delhi’s 170 protected historical monuments, including the historic Red Fort from where the Prime Minister addresses the nation on Independence Day (Aug. 15) every year. The other sites are: Humayun’s Tomb, Purana Qila, Begumpur Mosque, Kotla Maqbara, City Wall and Hauz Khas complex. The works will comprise big and small repairs and conservation at all these monuments over the next few years.

Clever seat selection helped BJP to secure historic win

The party won 65 seats against Congress, 37 against NCP (SP) and 29 against Shiv Sena (UBT)

Clever seat selection

Mumbai: The BJP’s strategic seat sharing with the allies has proved beneficial for the party. An analysis of the Assembly election results show that the BJP has scored over its main rival, the Congress, in a big way because of the direct fights.


The analysis shows that BJP defeated all three constituents of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) – in the direct fights. This is attributed as one of the reasons for the BJP’s historic poll success.


The BJP contested 147 out of 288 seats. In 76 constituencies, it faced Congress. BJP secured victory in 65 seats and lost only 11 seats, making it a whopping 86 per cent of the total direct fights. This was followed by an even stronger performance against NCP (SP). Of the total 39 fights with Sharad Pawar’s party, BJP captured 37 seats making it 95 per cent of the total fights with NCP (SP). BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT) were head-to-head in 32 constituencies, of which BJP emerged victorious in 29 seats, making this 91 per cent of the total direct contests.


According to a BJP strategist the party had bargained hard with its allies, Shiv Sena and NCP to get the desired constituencies in the seat sharing formula. “We had studied to potential candidates of the MVA. That helped us in choosing the seats where we can register comfortable victories,” the strategist said.


BJP spokesperson Niranjan Shetty attributed the success to all the party workers who worked hard to boost development, infrastructure in the state. He gave credit to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for his contribution to the party’s success.


Shetty pointed out that in 2019, Uddhav Thackeray had stalled all the “novel” and “legendary” projects that Fadnavis had started when he had taken over as CM, making it very easy for the people of Maharashtra to strike a comparison between both the leaders and the potential they had for serving the people. “Devendra Fadnavis gave up his post very easily for the larger good. There are many such examples like Venkaiah Naidu who was BJP National President and later worked as the Vice President of India because that was the need of the hour. We seldom care about our posts,” Shetty told The Perfect Voice.


Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe refused to call the election results as the people’s mandate. “This is not at all a Janata mandate. Despite Maharashtra struggling with so many basic social issues, how can BJP acquire such a huge mandate is the question. If a student copies and fails with just passing marks, it can go unnoticed, but if a student copies and bags the number one position, something is fishy. Why is the BJP scared of ballot papers?” he said.

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