Search For The Mythical Saraswati River

[dasa]

Search for lost river throws up 300 AD site in Haryana

Rajendra Khatry

 

Yamunanagar, August 11: The Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI), Rs-8-crore search for the mythical Saraswati has thrown up an exciting find at the foothills of the Shivalik — and a new controversy.

 

Extensive excavation in the last seven months at Adi Badri site, 40 km north of the Yamunanagar district in Haryana, has yielded a 300 AD Kushan site — and speculation that this may be the spot where the river had originated.

 

The finds at the 200-foot-high Intowali site (ABR-II) include a monastery, Buddha statue, pottery, pieces of carved slabs, a meditation hall, verandah, an entrance, and several artefacts.

 

 

Archaeologists say now there is enough evidence to prove that this was one of the major areas of inhabitation on the banks of the Saraswati that once flourished, and then disappeared without a trace.

 

The Saraswati campaigners are ecstatic. ‘‘ASI’s excavations at Adi Badri are of great significance. It has been established beyond doubt that this is the region where the once mighty river Saraswati originated,’’ says Darshan Lal Jain, Director, Saraswati Nadi Shodh Sansthan, Haryana.

 

But Karamvir Singh does not think so. The president of the All India Confederation of SC/ST and BC Organisations, Haryana unit, says since it is found to be a Buddhist site, it should be handed over to them.

 

After performing pooja in front of Buddha’s statue at Adi Badri on Sunday, he accused the ASI of hiding this fact to prove that it was part of the Vedic civilisation.

 

The picturesque site framed by hillocks is being dug up by the Mini Circle, Shimla, on behalf of the ASI’s Chandigarh circle. The team led by I.D. Dwivedi, Deputy Superintendent, ASI, under the supervision of Ravindra Singh Bisht, Joint Director, ASI, is trying to determine the presence of successive cultures that flourished on the banks of the Saraswati.

 

The ASI is excavating around 40 ancient sites in what is believed to be the Saraswati river basin. The 1,255-sq m Adi Badri is among the hundreds of sites that existed on the banks of the Saraswati, which is believed to have flowed from Adi Badri to Dholavira in Gujarat, irrigating the parched land of Haryana and Rajasthan.

 

An exposed brick structure found at the site could be dated to about 300 AD. ‘‘Other finds of this antiquity include numerous pottery items such as bowls lids, miniature pots, jars, cooking vessels, pitchers, storage jars, stamped wares,’’ said Ajmer Singh, Surveyor Officer, ASI, Chandigarh.

 

Similar excavations are also being carried out at several other sites in Haryana such as Bilaspur, Sadhoura, Mustafabad, Bhagwanpura, Thanesar, Mirzapur, Pehowa, Kalayat and Kaithal.

 

A senior official at the Director General office, ASI, Delhi said: ‘‘Excavations have been going on in at least 15 different sites countrywide. Yamunanagar is one of these. We have proof that the Saraswati existed on that course in the form of satellite imagery and hydrological evidences.’’