Purana Quila (28°38'; 77°12'), Delhi

The 'Old Fort' on the Yamuna in New Delhi, off Delhi-Mathura-Agra road, built by

Humayun and with standing monuments built by Sher Shah, situated on a mound on

which stood the village Inderpat till the beginning of this century, identified

with Indraprastha, the headquarters of the Pandavas of Mahabharata fame. It was

explored by Cunningham and later on by others. An inscription of Bhoja of the Pr

atihara dynasty (c. 836-85) was found here in 1913-4. In a trial excavation of 1

954-5 conducted by B.B. Lal of the ASI sherds of the PGW and NBPW and remains of

the Sunga Kushan periods were found. Between 1969-70 and 1972-3 the ASI conduct

ed large-scale excavations here revealing remains of eight. Periods, -though nei

ther the PGW nor anything associated with it was found: Period I, Mauryan (4th -

3rd century B.C.); Period II, Sunga (2nd -1st century B.C.; Period III, Saka-Kus

han (1st -3rd century AD.); Period IV, Gupta (4th -6th century); Period V, post-

Gupta (7th -9th century); Period VI, Rajput (10th - 12th century); Period VII, S

ultanate (13th -15th century); and Period VIII, Mughal (16th -19th century).

========================================

The Hindu

The discovery of Indraprastha

Madhur Tankha

Share · Comment (23) · print · T+

The ASI's excavation that is underway at Purana Quila. Photo: Sandeep Saxena

The Hindu The ASI's excavation that is underway at Purana Quila. Photo: Sand

eep Saxena

An artefact that was found during the ASI's excavation. Photo: Sandeep Saxen

a

The Hindu An artefact that was found during the ASI's excavation. Photo: San

deep Saxena

A 12th Century Vishnu idol found during the excavation. Photo: Sandeep Saxen

a

The Hindu A 12th Century Vishnu idol found during the excavation. Photo: San

deep Saxena

TOPICS

India

Delhi

archaeology

cultural anthropology

ruins and monuments

arts, culture and entertainment

monument and heritage site

If the ASI is successful in finding painted grey wares from the Mahabharata peri

od, it will prove the existence of the city of Pandavas

The Archaeological Survey of India is on an expedition to discover painted grey

wares of the Mahabharat period, which will conclusively prove the existence of I

ndraprastha.

The ongoing excavation at the Purana Quila site might lead to discovery of concr

ete evidence that will help in studying the culture and art patronised by the Pa

ndavas. It is also expected to give a fillip to tourism.

In the first excavation in 1954, mounted under the supervision of renowned archa

eologist B.B. Lal, who retired as ASI Director General, painted grey wares were

discovered.

“However, the wares were not found in stratified deposit. If they were found in st

ratified deposit, we could support that there were traces of the Mahabharat peri

od,” said Vasant Swarnkar, superintending archaeologist of ASI’s Delhi Circle. Under

his supervision, around 60 labourers have been working six days a week at the p

roject site.

To make things easier for Dr. Swarnkar, nearly 20 post-graduate diploma students

of archaeology from the Institute of Archaeology have been assisting him. They

have been guiding the labour force where exactly to dig, how to unearth crucial

discoveries without damaging them and how to carefully hand them over to the aut

horities to preserve the artefacts for posterity.

Emphasising the site’s significance, Dr. Swarnkar said: “ This site has had continuo

us cultural deposit from the Mauryan to the Mughal period. The discoveries over

the past month have reiterated the fact that there has always been habitation he

re during the Gupta and Kushan period.”

On Monday, a couple of enterprising students from the Institute of Archaeology d

iscovered a terracotta miniature bull.

“This bull is of the Gupta period, which was a glorious period as it saw patronisa

tion of art,” said Dr. Swarnkar as he cleaned the mud-filled artefact with a brush

.

Pottery of the Gupta and Kushan period, semi-precious stones, ear-stud made of t

erracotta, bowls, miniature pots and sprinklers were also discovered.

According to Neelima Vasudevan, one of the students working at the site, the exc

avation is part of her field training and it gives her satisfaction if after a h

ard day’s work some artefacts are discovered.

Hage Sonia, another student, was delicately arranging bones on a plate. “These bon

es certainly are not of animals but indicate left over meals. I have also discov

ered iron pieces. This exercise is teaching us the art of supervising digging an

d identifying the discoveries,” she said.

====================

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/mahabharat-sites-continue-to-have-the-

same-names-even-today-b-b-lal/article5776270.ece?ref=relatedNews

Updated: March 12, 2014 11:53 IST

Mahabharat sites continue to have the same names even today: B. B. Lal

Madhur Tankha

Share · Comment · print · T+

B. B. Lal

The Hindu B. B. Lal

TOPICS

India

Delhi

archaeology

cultural anthropology

arts, culture and entertainment

monument and heritage site

The former ASI Director General launched the first excavation at the Purana Quil

a site in 1954-55 in which he found structures ascribable to the Gupta, Kushana

and Sunga periods.

As the Delhi Chapter of the Archaeological Survey of India seeks to establish th

e existence of Indraprastha and show evidence of the Mahabharat period at the on

going excavation at the Purana Quila site, its team members have a lot to learn

from eminent archaeologist Prof. B. B. Lal.

The former ASI Director General launched the first excavation at the Purana Quil

a site in 1954-55 in which he found structures ascribable to the Gupta, Kushana

and Sunga periods.

“The trial excavation was alongside the passage leading down to water gate in the

eastern fortification wall of Purana Quila. The trial trench revealed that below

the northern black polished ware levels lay the remains of the painted grey war

e culture. Between the south of the Purana Quila and Humayun’s Tomb, there is an o

pen area from where a number of painted grey ware were discovered. It was here t

hat the oldest settlement began.”

Prof. Lal said the polished grey ware is the earliest common pottery connecting

all the Mahabharat sites such as Hastinapur, Mathura, Kurukshetra and Kampilya.

“The evidence clearly establishes that the Purana Quila and its southern neighbour

hood represent Indraprastha of the Mahabharat times. In fact, right up to 1947,

a village named Indrapat existed inside the Purana Quila. This name was derived

from ancient Indraprastha.”

Prof. Lal was invited by the ASI to inaugurate the excavation at Purana Quila wh

ich began a month ago. But the nonagenarian politely declined as he rarely steps

out of his second floor flat in South Delhi.

“But I wished best of luck to the team and am hopeful that the ASI will be success

ful in discovering polished grey ware.”

In 1951-52, Prof. Lal carried out excavations at Hastinapura, situated in Meerut

district.

Interestingly, the excavation at Hastinapura revealed that around 800 B.C. a hea

vy flood in the Ganga destroyed a considerable portion of polished grey ware set

tlement.

Pointing out that the combined evidence of archaeology and literature establishe

s the historicity of Mahabharat, Prof. Lal said to the faithful everything menti

oned in the epic is true to its letters.

“However, sceptics insist that Mahabharat is nothing more than a figment of someon

e’s imagination. All the sites associated with the mythological epic continue to h

ave the same nomenclature even till this day.”