He asserted further that these rites were in accordance with the practices laid down in the Rig Veda. For in one of the hymns in the 10th Mandala of the Rig Veda the manes or the pitris are invoked in the funeral rite “to hold the pillar”, a fact corroborated by the find of the wooden pillar. In the same hymn Prithvi is also invoked to protect the dead “from the abode of destruction”, and this may perhaps account for the discovery of gold leaf with female figure (presumably prithvi). Though Bloch does not categorically say  that these mounds are of Vedic age, he was quite sure that they belonged to the pre-Mauryan epoch and represented “some royal tombs, similar, perhaps to the Chaityas of the Vrijjis, Mallas” and others as mentioned in the early Buddhist literature. He further surmised that the Emperor Asoka selected this site for the erection of the pillar at the spot probably because of the celebrity and the sanctity these royal tombs must have enjoyed in his time.

Excavations by N G Mazumdar and A Ghosh :- Further excavation of the mound partially earlier excavated by Cunningham and was able to expose “the outline of a circular structure of bricks”, i.e. apparently a stupa, having a diameter of 107’. It was perhaps surrounded by two brick terraces or pavements, one above the other, presumably for the usual procession paths, though no traces of which could be found in the excavation. The height of the whole structure according to Mazumdar was originally about 16 feet. The upper portion of the stupa was apparently made of clay. Inside it, at a depth of 14’6”, were found a layer of ashes and charcoal, pieces of burnt human bones and fragments of pottery vessels to which some of the bones were found sticking.

To be continued.....