Overview

• Excavation at Karkoot Nag in Anantnag during Public Works Department spring restoration yielded multiple stone idols, including Shivlings with deity engravings.
• Officials transferred these artefacts to the SPS Museum in Srinagar where research scholars are conducting material composition and carbon dating tests.
• A large Shivling discovered in Baramulla’s Khanpora area has likewise been handed over for formal museum analysis.
• Kashmiri Pandit groups link the relics to the 7th–8th century Karkoota dynasty and are advocating for temple reconstruction at Anantnag and heritage tourism development.
• The Jammu and Kashmir Department of Archives, Archaeology and Museums is overseeing preservation efforts as part of broader regional heritage restoration initiatives.