Sitagarhi Hills, Hazaribagh

• It is a 10th century structure resembling a small ‘Buddha Vihar’ (Buddhist Shrine-cum-Monastery).
• Discoveries around the site:
  • Four statues of deity Tara in ‘Varada Mudra’ (gesture of hand showing dispensing of boons)
  • Six statues of the Buddha in ‘Bhumisparsa Mudra’ (gesture of hand showing five fingers of right hand towards the earth symbolizing the Buddha’s enlightenment.

Why in news?

The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) has unearthed a Buddhist monastery, believed to be at least 900 years old, buried under a mound in Sitagarhi Hills of Hazaribagh district in Jharkhand.