Terracotta plaques of various archeological marvels in the country are on the verge of ruins for lack of proper maintenance.
Experts blame shortage of manpower and fund barring maintenance of these heritage originals including the world heritage Somapura Mahavihara in Naogaon.
All the 500 terracotta plaques on the Somapura Mahavihara have been damaged for high salinity in the area, the site’s Custodian Md Mahabub-Ul-Alam said.
Natural calamities like heavy rainfall and fluctuation of temperature are also to be blamed, the official said.
The Somapura Mahavihara was built by King Dharmapala in 781-810AD during the rule of Pala dynasty. The site was declared a world heritage in 1985.
Now, about 1,805 broken or damaged terracotta plaques are being kept in the temple museum’s store room for a long time, Mahabub said.
Several hundred terracotta in several archeological sites of Puthia upazila, Rajshahi have also been damaged for the lack of maintenance.
There are at least 12 temples in this upazila. Among them, the prominent ones include the decorated temples of Govinda, Gopal and Shiva.
Some of these temples were built by Queen Bhuvanmohi Devi during 1823.
One of the exquisite terracotta temples in Pabna is the Jorbanla. This temple was damaged during an earthquake in 1897, but still stands gorgeous. But even so, now due to lack of maintenance, the walls of these temples are losing their pride.
The terracotta Kantaji temple of Dinajpur is widely acclaimed to be one of the beautiful temples in the South Asian region, what has also been struck with ill fate.
Bangladesh Department of Archeology says these terracotta are being threatened because of soil salinity, lack of proper maintenance and ill treatment.
Department of Archeology Bogra unit Regional Director Md Badrul Alam said terracotta of 50 protective and non-protective sites are losing their glory.
The official blamed shortage of manpower and lack of funds for proper maintenance of these heritage originals.