Speaking Archaeologically™

“Defaced ruins of architecture and statuary, like the wrinkles of decrepitude of a once beautiful woman, only make one regret that one did not see them when they were enchanting.”                                                                                            - Horace Walpole Rattan Kaur Rainu is a Research Wing member at Speaking Archaeologically since August 2018 This blog doesn’t begin on an adventurous note. Neither does it involve a spontaneous road trip. Rather it is the product of an intrigue that drove me to explore a place  I had never even heard of until a few days ago. Goethe said architecture is music. Well, architecture and music are the two things that have always been my favourite. Be it an an ol...

THE BHULI BHATYARI KA MAHAL An oddly disproportional and red Hanuman stands sternly, ripping his chest open as Delhi wizzes by his feet. Many seem almost oblivious to this grand and grotesque gesture. There is a meeting to get to, a date, an assignment to submit a week after it was due, or in most cases just an air conditioner to find and set up base   in front of. Behind the statue, a thin, unassuming road slithers past all the chaos, ending at a place strikingly different from where it began. It ends in the 14 th century, at a now decrepit Tughlaq era hunting lodge. The bhuli bhatyari ka mahal is conveniently tucked away behind the hanuman statue in busy Karol Bagh. It is a spot like so many others in the capital, where the ancient and the modern live cheek and jowl, and hopefully will continue to do so for a long time to come. It faces a large DMNC water tank, where on most occasions, the water turns a rancid green. Every few minutes, the silence around gets in...

SA Travel Diaries : Ashokan Inscription, Kalsi by Gauri Singh The site of Ashoka's Inscription at Kalsi Kalsi is a valley town surrounded by lesser Himalayan mountains from 3 sides and Doon plains on one side, on the confluence of River Yamuna and Tons. It lies about 60 kms from capital city of Dehradun on the road to Chakrata via Herbertpur on the h ighway of Jaunsar region, Dehradun district of state Uttarakhand. The valley is the first plain town when one descends from the Himalayas and is therefore also an economic hub of the Jaunsar-Bawar Tribal Region. Situated at an altitude of 780 meter above the sea level and on the banks of 2 rivers, the place experiences a moderate climate in summers and has scenic surroundings. The alluvial soil drained down by the rivers makes this place one of the most fertile region in the surrounding Pachwa-Doon plains. The place is especially known for The Rock Edict of the great Mauryan emperor Ashoka and is one of the most o...

You know what is the good part about being an anthropology student? You can indulge yourself in a surprising array of fields without actually deviating from the main discipline. So while I was out there in the little town of Junga, doing an internship in forensics I did not let my archaeological outlook subside and went to this chief attraction of the town- The Old Junga Palace, what the locals addressed as “Purana Mahal”.  Frontage of the Old Junga Palace What I expected to be a significant monument with huge stone walls actually turned out to be an ancient half-wooden palace falling into gentle ruins. Before getting into the very details of  how the palace looks like? Who ruled the place? etc.., it is first important for the readers to understand that this blog only intends to blow the dust off of the history of the locale and introduce this badly conserved site to the inquisitive minds of explorers and researche rs.   Running through the daily routin...

The Kangra Fort My first trip to Mcleodganj and Dharamshala, Kangra was so unplanned that I hardly knew anything about the places except for the fact that it was one of the most serene hill stations of country. En route , on the outskirts of Dharamshala, I noticed on a hill, some huge walls and buildings which seemed quite old in structure. An exclusive route leading to it had a signboard of ‘The Kangra Fort, 4 km’. Three days later, we were driving to the place. Gauri Singh is a Member of Citizen Archaeology Wing since June 2016 We first arrived at the Kangra Fort Museum and Art Gallery. It was a small place but a treasure house of a forgotten period in the Indian history. The erstwhile Royal Family of Kangra has dedicated their Museum to honour Maharaja Sansar Chand, their ancestor whose reign was known as the Golden Age of Kangra. Maharaja Sansar Chand inherited the throne of Kangra, when he was just 10 years old. By the age of 21, he had defeated the Mughals...