HT Correspondent
TEZPUR, June 28: The Sonitpur district administration has initiated steps to preserve the historic Harjara Varman Rock Inscription, a ninth-century Sanskrit epigraph regarded as one of the most significant sources for reconstructing the ancient history of Assam.
District Commissioner Ananda Kumar Das, accompanied by engineers from the Public Works Department and other officials, inspected the historic Rudrapad (Bhairavpad) site on the banks of the Brahmaputra on Sunday, where the inscription is engraved on a massive rock partially submerged in the river.
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The inspection followed a memorandum submitted on June 26 by a delegation of the Tezpur Sahitya Sabha, led by its president Dhrubajyoti Das and former president Dr Bhupen Saikia, urging immediate preservation of the nine-line Sanskrit inscription issued by Harjara Varman, a ruler of the Salastambha dynasty, the second royal dynasty of ancient Assam.
Responding promptly to the appeal, the District Commissioner convened a meeting with concerned officials before visiting the site with PWD engineers and representatives of the Tezpur Sahitya Sabha, including vice-president Dwijen Nath, secretary Dr Pallab Bhattacharya and former secretary Pankaj Baruah.
Speaking after the inspection, Das said preservation work would commence after the monsoon through a coordinated effort involving the Water Resources Department, the Archaeological Department and the Public Works Department.
He announced that a permanent guide embankment and an access bridge would be constructed to facilitate safe visits by tourists and researchers, while expert-designed conservation measures would be implemented to protect the inscription from erosion and water damage.
The District Commissioner also said an inspection and oversight committee comprising archaeologists and eminent citizens of Tezpur would be constituted to supervise the preservation work.
Highlighting the inscription’s historical importance, Tezpur Sahitya Sabha secretary Dr Pallab Bhattacharya said the Gupta Era date 510 (829 AD) mentioned in the inscription has enabled historians to determine the approximate reigns of kings belonging to the Varman, Salastambha and Pala dynasties of ancient Assam.
He described the Tezpur Rock Inscription as an invaluable historical record and expressed concern that such an important monument had been left vulnerable to deterioration.
He added that, given its location near the historic Bhairavpad tourist site, the inscription also holds significant tourism potential.
Dr Bhattacharya commended the District Commissioner for responding swiftly to the Sabha’s appeal.
The demand for preserving the inscription has been raised for several years by historians, archaeologists and civil society organisations, including the late historian Prof Madhav Chandra Das, archaeologist Dr Satish Chandra Bhattacharya and the Asamiya Bhasha Unnati Sadhini Sabha.
With the district administration now initiating conservation measures, there is renewed hope that one of Assam’s most valuable historical monuments will be safeguarded for future generations.
