During all my journeys from Bhagalpur towards Munger or beyond to Begusarai or Patna, whenever I crossed Sultanganj, I wanted to explore the mysterious rocky island, atop which a temple, named as Ajgaibinath, existed, and, of which I had once seen a photograph in a text on the history of Bihar. The hill was then approached by a small boat from the ghat where also existed another hillock, popularly known as ‘Murli Pahari’ (earlier ‘Baiskaran’, interpreted as Vyasa Karna by Dr. R C P Singh) upon which existed an old mosque amidst several similar ancient remains. It was in January, 2005, itself that I had first intended to plan a boat ride to the island within the river, but, due to paucity of time, it could not then materialise. In April, 2005, as I got posted to Kahalgaon as the Officer-in- Charge of the Police Station for three months, I was fortunate enough to find some spare time to visit some of the widely scattered remains in the vicinity1. However, even as I could briefly tour the eastern part of the district, exploration of the western side, which included Sultanganj, remained as a desideratum.

As the years passed on after I left Bhagalpur, my craving for heritage increased multifold and my mind was always looking for an opportunity to visit the site and complete the unfulfilled mission. Finally, years later, on 26th March, 2016, during my posting at the Police Headquarters in Patna, I got an opportunity to visit Bhagalpur for some official work, and fortunately could also spare some moments for exploration. On 27th March, 2016, I revisited sites near Kahalgaon which refreshed old memories, and planned for more exploration on the way back to Patna on the following day. Towards the evening, after return from Kahalgaon, as I discussed my plans to visit Sultanganj with the curator at Bhagalpur Museum, I also gathered details about Kherhi hill, another less explored site, not very far from Sultanganj and holding immense promise, and added it on the next day’s itinerary.

To be continued....