New Delhi: Delhi’s Purana Qila is being excavated for the fifth time, and archaeologists have reached the pre-Mauryan level.
“This is the only place in Delhi providing insights into continuous history spanning over 2,500 years,” archaeologist Vasant Kumar Swarnkar said at a recent presentation to a packed hall at Delhi’s India International Centre.
What really surprised him and the discussion moderator, BM Pande, is that so many turned up to hear the talk on archaeology. Such is the unprecedented hunger for history among Indians today.
“There was a time when only a few people used to participate in such discussions, and today there are so many people that there is no place to sit. This is a good sign,” said Pande.
During his 45-minute presentation, Swarnkar gave an extensive account of the Purana Qila excavations conducted in different periods: 1954-1955, 1969-1973, 2013-2014, 2017-2018, and then recently in 2023. “The target could not be reached during the previous excavations,” he said.
As the archaeologist concluded his presentation, an audience member asked why the same place was being excavated repeatedly. “The location of the Purana Qila is very important,” replied Swarnkar. “It has a historical trade route on one side and the Yamuna river on the other.”
Swarnkar’s presentation also showed rare excavation pictures from former Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) director Braj Basi Lal’s era, pleasantly surprising the curious attendees.
BB Lal had linked the Purana Qila to the Mahabharata period, but there has been no concrete evidence to confirm it yet. Thus, to decipher who came first, archaeologists are targeting to reach natural soil – and they have made considerable progress.
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New finds at Purana Qila
According to Swarnkar, the dig, which started in January, has already unearthed Painted Grey Ware within a stratified layer of the soil. Nine cultural levels and a Mauryan-period well with 18 rings have also been discovered.
His findings prompted an animated discussion not only with the moderator Pande, but also with several historians and archaeologists in the audience.
Senior archaeologist KN Srivastava interrupted Swarnkar and asked what material these wells were made of. Swarnkar said they were made of terracotta, and that evidence of an industrial set-up, along with traces of a Mauryan bead-making culture and brick house complexes from the Kushan period, had also been unearthed.
Moreover, the excavation has yielded several other artefacts, such as a Rajput period Vaikuntha Vishnu, a Gaja Lakshmi plaque, Sung-era figurines, ritualistic objects, Gupta period dice, beads of different sizes at different levels, a Kushan period copper wheel, copper coins, and ivory bangles.
But this is not all. Swarnkar said that the Purana Qila dig would yield cultural deposits of up to 17 metres, of which 10 metres have already been excavated.
Eighty-year-old Sumitra Nag yearned for a programme dedicated to the Purana Qila, and his long search ended at the IIC event. The octogenarian regularly visited the site during its second dig between 1969 and 1973 and has many memories associated with it.
“It was a wonderful experience. I used to live near the Purana Qila and came every day to see the excavation. Every day something or the other used to come out from under the ground, which used to attract me.”
Also read: Purana Qila is being dug up again. ASI wants to reach all the way to the Mahabharata era
‘Open excavation site’
Union Minister G Kishan Reddy had also visited Purana Qila on 30 May. “This is the only site in Delhi-NCR where one can witness the continuous history of Delhi from the Pre-Mauryan to Mughal period through the excavated remains. The findings showcase the rich cultural heritage of our country,” he had said, highlighting the significance of the historic site.
“Purana Qila will be reopened, and the excavated remains will be preserved, conserved, and provided with a shed. The site will be showcased as an open-air site museum, allowing visitors to experience the rich historical legacy of Delhi,” Reddy had added.
As the discussion came to a close, ever-eager audience members requested Swarnkar to open the excavation site for at least one day a week so that people could see the findings.
“It will be considered,” he said assuringly.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)