A rare three-headed sculpture of Lord Vishnu made of green stone dating back to the 9th century was recovered from river Jehlum in the Kakapora area of south Kashmir's Pulwama district on Wednesday.
The sculpture was recovered from the river Jhelum during the course of extraction of sand at Kakapura area of Pulwama district by some labourers and was handed over to the Police Station Kakapura.
After completing legal formalities the sculpture was handed over to Deputy Director Archives, Archaeology, and Museums Kashmir.
"The sculpture was found by some labourers while they were mining sand from river Jhelum in Lelhara Kakapora area of Pulwama district", reports said, adding, "Soon after finding the sculpture, the labourers contacted the police who took possession of the rare artifact".
Rare sculpture made of greenish stone
Deputy Director, J&K Department of Archives, Archaeology, and Museums, Mushtaq Ahmed Beigh told The International Bussiness Times that it was a rare sculpture which is made of greenish stone.
"We have such sculptures in our museums but it is the only sculpture which is made of greenish stone", he said, adding, It is a three-headed Vishnu. A unique sculpture of the 9th century. It is a green stone sculpture which is very rare. Few parts of the sculpture are missing".
The finely carved and well dressed and polished sculpture demonstrates clearly the sculptural style in use at Avantipora during the 9th century AD. "It is a resemblance with the sculpture of Avanitpore", Beigh said.
Earlier 1,200-year-old idol of Goddess Durga was recovered
In August 2021, the Jammu and Kashmir Police had recovered a sculpture of Goddess Durga, believed to be 1,200-year-old, from a local in the Khansahib area in central Kashmir's Budgam district. The local was trying to sell it before cops recovered the sculpture from his house.
The sculpture was recovered from the house of one Nawaz Ahmad Sheikh son of Abdul Rashid Sheikh, a resident of Yarikhah Khansahab during the search. Nawaz Sheikh had found the sculpture in a stream while digging to collect sand.
