Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs
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But they also realised that the stone structure that they had discovered was only the base of the original 7.5 feet high memorial rock. Where was the superstructure? It so happened that the concrete canopy, in addition to the bronze bust of Malusare, also sheltered a virgal or a hero stone, which had carvings of a soldier, Lord Hanuman, and some flowers. “This stone was covered in more than 60 layers of oil paint. As we peeled it off, we realised that the hero stone was actually the superstructure and a part of the memorial,” said Mr. Samel, adding that it must have been detached and moved away from the original structure. “We are extremely thrilled about discovering the samadhi. This is a great piece of heritage,” he said. Malusare was cremated near his home in Poladpur, Raigad district where, too, a memorial exists. Mr. Samel and his team will now be scanning the newly discovered memorial to see if it contains the Maratha leader’s remains. “It is not uncommon for some warriors to have two or three memorials. There is a good chance that the memorial we have discovered may have his remains, as he had breathed his last in Sinhagad,” Mr. Samel said. “There were always rumours about Malusare’s samadhi on Sinhagad. But until now, no one knew where it was. We have taken a conscious decision to restore the samadhi”, said Dr. Tejas Garge, director of the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Maharashtra.
