Ancient Hindu stone idols, including several ‘Shivlings’, were unearthed during excavation work for the renovation of a spring in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district, officials said on Saturday. The artefacts were discovered at Karkoot Nag, located in the Salia area of Aishmuqam in southern Kashmir, during an ongoing revival and restoration project being carried out by the Public Works Department, officials said.

Local labourers involved in the excavation recovered the idols, many of which are carved with depictions of deities, from the sacred pond at the site, which holds religious significance for Kashmiri Pandits. Officials from the Jammu and Kashmir Department of Archives, Archaeology and Museums have since visited the site and said the relics will be transferred to Srinagar for further analysis, including material and dating tests to determine their historical origin.

“We will shift them to the SPS Museum in Srinagar, where they will be studied by scholars and researchers,” a department official said. The site is associated with the Karkoota dynasty, a powerful Hindu dynasty that ruled Kashmir in the 7th and 8th centuries CE. Community members believe that a temple may have once stood at the location or that the idols may have been placed there for preservation. “This place has been a pilgrimage centre,” said a local Kashmiri Pandit. “We recovered Shivlings, sculptures, and other sacred items. We appeal to the government to protect the site and rebuild the temple where these idols can be respectfully placed.” The discovery has renewed interest in the region’s ancient Hindu heritage and calls for preservation and archaeological investigation.