Da Parbatia is a small village near West Tezpur, having significant architectural remnants of an ancient temple of the 6th century overlying the ruins of another Shiva temple built of bricks during the Koch period. Archaeological excavations done here in 1924 have unearthed a 6th century antiquity in the form of a stone door frame with extensive carvings. This complex is under the jurisdiction of the Archaeological Survey of India and its importance and notability is recorded under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958.
The ruins of the temple built during the medieval period are built over the ancient temple's foundations and are in the form of a stone paved layout plan of the sanctum sanctorum and a mandapa. The excavations revealed many terracotta plaques in which human figures were shown in a sitting position.
The antiquities found at the Dah Parvatiya are inferred prior to the Bhaskaravarman period. On the basis of the moldings and its architectural style it is inferred that the terracotta plaques are definitely not later than the 6th century; the altered form of motifs noted in Assam confirms this assessment. This type of architectural feature, particularly in the styistics of figurines of the ruins, is seen in North India, in the temples of the Bhumra and Nachha Kuthara which belonged to the Gupta period.
Da Parbatia
Further confirmation of the dating is provided by the carvings of the river Goddesses Ganga and Yamuna, which are also akin to the Greek architecture with striking similarity to the Hellenistic art. The decorative elements of the ruins also have close similarity with those seen in the temples of Orissa.
Epigraphic evidence and ancient literature found here, supplemented by the ruins seen scattered around the area, also confirms that in the pre-Ahom period Gupta art extended into the early medieval period.