Ancient Pallava Inscription and Statues Found at Bukit Choras in Kedah

via various news sources, 22-23 September 2023: An archaeological team from Universiti Sains Malaysia and the National Heritage Department has discovered two near-perfect statues, an ancient Pallava inscription, and the largest temple structure to date at the Bukit Choras Archaeological Site in Kedah, believed to be from the eighth or ninth century AD.

USM CGAR senior lecturer Dr Nasha Rodziadi Khaw, who led the excavation works, said the finds from the temple site could date back to around the eighth or ninth century AD, which is the same as most of the temple sites in the Bujang Valley, and the development period of the Srivijaya Empire.

Pallava refers to a dynasty of south India, flourishing around the sixth to eighth century AD. It also had a writing system which spawned almost all the language scripts in South-East Asia.

“The uniqueness of the temple at this archaeological site is firstly how it has been preserved, we can see that the condition of the walls in the north, west and south areas are well-preserved.

“Secondly, we found two human-sized structures made out of stucco… and the discovery of stucco has not been reported in the Bujang Valley but only in Sumatra and Java,” Nasha said at a press conference on Friday (Sept 22).

Source: Ancient inscription, two statues discovered at Bukit Choras dig site in Kedah | The Star

See also:

• Largest Buddhist temple structure unearthed in Bukit Choras, dating back 1,200 years | New Straits Times, 22 Sep 2023
• USM, National Heritage Dept teams find structures, stone inscriptions in Bukit Choras archaeological site | Malay Mail, 22 Sep 2023
• Two Buddha statues were found on Choras Hill | Sinar Daily, 22 Sep 2023
• Unearthing more clues about the Pallava dynasty | The Star, 23 Sep 2023
• USM Researchers Uncover 1,200 Year-Old Candi Of Ancient Civilisation In Kedah | Says, 25 Sep 2023