Bihar’s Ranivas Mound declared monument of national importance

An ancient mound in Bihar's East Champaran district has been declared an archaeological site of national importance through a central government notification.

The site – Ranivas Mound, at Kesariya – is spread over 1.63 acres and is under the ownership of the Bihar government, reads the gazette notification dated November 4 that was issued by the Ministry of Culture.

Copies of the said notification were made available to the public on June 8, 2026 and "no objection has been received" from any person with regard to the declaration by the central government, said the notification signed by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Director General Yadubir Singh Rawat.

A copy of the notification was affixed at a conspicuous place as required under sub-section (1) of section 4 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958.

"Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (3) of section 4 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 (24 of 1958), the Central Government hereby declares the said archaeological site and remains specified in the site plan and schedule annexed hereto, to be of national importance," the gazette notification said.

A total of 3,686 sites around the country are under the care of the ASI, the Centre had informed Parliament in February 2026.

A recommendation for listing the ancient Ranivas mound in Bihar as a centrally protected monument was sent to ASI headquarters in Delhi in 2021, a senior official told PTI in September 2022.

According to the existing procedure, proposals or recommendations sent by regional ASI circles are examined by a team at the organisation’s headquarters before a final decision is taken on naming them monuments or sites of national importance.

In case of meritorious proposals and recommendations, a provisional notification is first made, followed by the issuance of a final gazetted notification.

A senior official said the inclusion of new sites under the ambit of the ASI is an ongoing process, based on recommendations received from various ASI “circles”, or regions, across the country from time to time.

Centrally protected sites in Bihar fall under the jurisdiction of the ASI’s Patna Circle.

Currently, 70 sites in Bihar are under the ambit of the ASI and governed by the Patna Circle, which is one of the oldest regional circles in India.

The Patna Circle was earlier known as the Mid-Eastern Circle, and still earlier as the Buddhist Circle, ostensibly because of the important Buddhist monuments lying in the area, according to the Circle’s website.

The ruins of the ancient Nalanda University in Bihar, also under the ASI, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Other centrally protected sites in Bihar include the majestic Tomb of Sher Shah Suri; the Tomb of Hasan Shah Suri; the Rohtasgarh Fort in Rohtas district; the Kumrahar, Bulandibagh and Sandalpur sites; Mir Ashraf ki Masjid in Patna; the ancient mound in Bargaon, Nalanda; sculptures of various Hindu deities carved on the northern and eastern faces of some of the rocks of Kauvadol hill in Kurisarai, Gaya; the Ashokan Pillar at Lauriya Areraj, East Champaran; and the Vikramshila monastery in Bhagalpur.

The ancestral house of India’s first president Rajendra Prasad in Ziradei, Siwan, north Bihar, was officially declared a protected monument on May 27, 1991. Its provisional notification was done on October 30, 1990.

The Shiva Temple in Gaya was notified by the ASI in 1996. Since then, no fresh site in Bihar had been brought under the ambit of the ASI, the senior official had said in September 2022.

Asked when the first notification was made for the Bihar region, the ASI official said, “Eight to nine sites were notified in 1909 altogether.”

The Patna Circle earlier covered Jharkhand and a large number of sites in eastern Uttar Pradesh. While the Ranchi Circle was created in 2003 after Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000, a separate Sarnath Circle was created in 2013 for sites falling in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

The ASI was established in 1861, with Alexander Cunningham as the first head of the institution.