EXCAVATIONS - HISTORIC SITES

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PAWAYA (1924-25. 1933-34, 1939-40. 1940-41)

Hardly 40 miles south of Gwalior, the modern village ofPawaya (25°46' N, 78° IT E ) is situated on the confluence of the rivers Sindh and parvati and has been identified as the site of the ancient city of padmavati, one of the capitals of Naga kings who flourished in third and fourth centuries A.D. The geographical and other environments ofthe city are vividly described by. Bhavabhuti, the well-known Sanskrit poet, in his play the Malati Madhava.

The site of the old town is found studded with numerous stone and ant iquities and carved fragments ranging in date from 1st to 8th centuries A.D. of these the life size free-standing status of Yaks a Manibhdra with a Brahmi inscription of about the first century A.D. is the most ancient, The place has, however, yielded a few artistic carvings and sculptures of the Gupta period such as an image of Visnu a two faced sum-capital, a palm capital, status of a Naga king and a large carved fragment of a lintel of a torana gateway containing, in relief, beautiful representations of a scene of dance,"scene of Bali's sacrifice" etc. All of them are now kept in the Archaeological Museum at Gwalior.

On both sides of the river parvati, which joins here the river sindh, are obseved high and artificial mounds which conceal the remains of the old town of Padmavati. one of the mounds, a shourt distance from the northern bank of the river, was excavated by the Archaeology Department. The excavations have revealed an interesting terraced brick structure consisting of three platforms, placed one above the other, receding in dimensions in a suitable proportion. The facing of the brick-work is mostly plain except for two courses of recessed panels, on all of the middle platform, flanked by ornamental pilasters with vase-shaped pedestals. Above these panels is seen a line of minature arches corresponding to the will-known chaitya design of ancient architecture. It seems the brick-work was once coverd with a thin layer of lime plaster few trances of which are now seen on the monuments. The masonry was done in mortar prepared with an admixture of clay and fine sand.

It would be seen from the remains that the top platform once supported a superstructure, which should have been the shrine proper, the remains of which are not traceable now. It may be, it was a flat-roofed structure made up of timber, brick and lime and hence left no imperishable and perceptible ruins behind. If this was the case, the two platroms below, it seems, served the purpose of a path of circumambulation, "Pradaks-ina-patha", all around the structure. There is only one place in India where such a terraced brick temle was found that is at Rarnnagar (ancient Ahicchhattra) in Bareilly District of Uttar Pradesh. In is probable that the temple, if any, was sacred to visnu as an image only of that god was discovered in these excavations. the site has, however, yielded a number of beautifully modelled terracotta figures and figurines which, it seems, were once used for the surface decorations of the side walls of the temple. they consist mostly of busts and heads of human figures with a pleasing variety in their facial expressions and in their arrangements of hair. They indicate a mature development of the plastic arr of clay-modelling in the Gupta period and can very well be compared with similar terracottas discovered at Rajghat near Benaras. They are now exhibited in the Gwalior Museum though a few of them are also kept for exhibition the site.

REFERENCES
Gwalior Administration Report 1924·25, p. 9, 1933-34, pp. 9, 1939-40, p. 15; 1940-41, pp. 17-20; ARASI, 1924-25, pp. 165-66; 1925-26, p. 190, 1915-16, pp. 101-109; Patil, n.R., 1952, The Cultural Heritage of Madhya Bharat, Gwalior, p. 80