In 1880 Garrick did a superficial excavation on its top and discovered, at a depth of 5 feet, three lamps or chiraghs or earthen lamps, one of which was inscribed. The inscription though highly damaged, was similar to Mauryan characters. The excavation was later taken up by Mazumdar in 1935-6 and was continued by A Ghosh in 1940-41. As a result of these excavations a huge brick built edifice was exposed, with height of more than 80 feet in its ruined state. The structure is built of bricks and consists of a series of terraces, raised one above the other, numbering five in all, as seen at present. There is a passage of circumambulation on three of the terraces. It resembles the main, temple of Paharpur in Bangladesh, which belongs to a much later date.

According to local tradition the mound had been known as a fort or gadh called Nandangadh associated with a similar lofty mound at Chankigadh. It is surrounded on all sides by low mounds and a large tank to the south, the whole area being enclosed by a sort of a rampart wall traces of which were found in the excavations. Several antiquities excavated include beads, terracotta figures, pottery vessels, coins, metal objects like knives, daggers, celts, arrow heads, and other objects. The most striking and interesting of the finds are the female terracotta figurines with their heads and faces representing various types of headgear and expressions. The coins include a copper karshapana, a few copper cast coins, one silver punch marked coin, a few round copper coins, bearing legends in early Brahmi of about the 1st century BC. A few of the low mounds were also excavated by Mazumdar, but they yielded nothing but a few fragmentary walls. Whether these low mounds represent remnants of a large monastery or a town site is still not ascertained.

To be continued...