Two idols of Hindu gods purportedly made with red sandstone hundreds of years ago were recovered from the Mahananda river in Malda on Friday morning.

Police have collected the idols and have handed over those to the district administration.

The administration has sought examination of these idols by archaeologists and has contacted the state archaeology department to find out whether these are antiques.

Sources said some children who were bathing at the Mission Ghat of the Mahananda, located near Ramakrishna Mission, found the idols.

“One of the idols is of Goddess Durga while the other appears to be of theLlord Shiva or Bhairava,” said Ashu Mandal, a local resident.

Suresh Chandra Rano, sub-divisional officer, Malda (Sadar), said: “We have kept the idols at the local museum for now and have contacted the state archaeology department to get details and historical importance of these idols.”

The recovery of these idols has also made historians enthusiastic.

Satya Ranjan Chowdhury, a former faculty of Malda College and historian, said around 23 years back, some items were recovered from the Jagjibanpur area of Habibpur block which belonged to the Pala dynasty.

“It is important to examine these idols and tests should be conducted to ascertain how old the idols are,” Chowdhury added.

Moloy Shankar Bhattacharya, a former curator of Malda museum, also feels that the statues could be of the Pala dynasty time.

“We need to confirm it but if it is found to be true, it means that the idols are around 900 years old,” Bhattacharya said.