#GaneshChaturthi: 10th century Ganesh idol of Nagvanshi dynasty

Dantewada, Sep 2: Where the lord Ganesha sits in a calm atmosphere. 1100-year-old Ganesha idol in Bastar forest. The 1100-year-old Ganesha idol, located atop Dholkal hill in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh.

The idol was made during the time of Nagvanshi dynasty, is placed atop a 'dhol' shaped hill that lies 14 km inside the forest.

Interestingly, the size of the Ganesh idol keeps increasing every year. Nothing has been ascertained about the miraculous size increase till now.

But, unfortunately, this unique Ganesh idol was been destroyed in early 2017 after it fell from its location atop Dholkal hill.

The Bastar Police suspected the involvement of Maoists, who they believe may have pushed the idol from its 13,000-feet-high spot to stall development work in their stronghold.

The news of missing Ganesh idol spread like wildfire, pictures of the spot went viral on the social media amid speculation that the 10th-century idol was stolen. Later, a group of people launched a search and finally found pieces of the historic idol scattered at the foothill.

The place was becoming a famous tourist spot, attracting more tourists. This is one of the reason that we are not ruling out the possibility of Maoist involvement. Local population felt very disappointed as the historic idol got them work of guides to the visitors getting them good pocket money.

It was a unique idol and it's a huge loss to the archaeology of Bastar. Bastar has a history of theft of idols. Many idols are found unattended lying on the roadside and even under the trees, a researcher said earlier.