Ahmedabad, 7 January 2013

One of India’s greatest archaeologists, S.R.Rao who though from Bangalore, Karnataka, had made Gujarat his karmabhoomi, passed away last week. A team led by him had excavated India’s top Harappan site Lothal, Lord Krishna’s submerged capital town Dwarka, and Hindu mandirs covered by a converted mosque structure at Siddhpur. I’m starting my life-long series ‘discovery of Gujarat’ with this article paying tribute to him.

As a curious journalist, I have made it my habit that whenever I visit some city, I try my best to meet one prominent person of my choice living there. So when I was in Bangalore in 2005, I managed to find some time to visit S.R.Rao. Journey from Leela hotel to Jaynagar bungalow of Rao and back to the airport in extremely tight schedule was risky, and I could miss my flight easily, but everything went well. I showed him the details of my discovery of stone paintings in north Gujarat, and talked in detail with him about his discoveries in Gujarat. Here is an article on Lothal which I completed after meeting Mr. Rao. I also visited Lothal, and met local villagers who were involved in Lothal excavation.:

Lothal

Lothal is located in Gujarat, but it doesn’t belong solely to Gujarat, it belongs to the world. An article in Poland’s Warsaw business journal mentioned Lothal in December, and in November, China hosted the world toilet summit where presentation on Lothal town showed how 4800 years back, each house in Lothal had toilet facility with proper water connection. And discussions on Lothal continue at international forums. Wherever there’s a discussion on oldest human lifestyle, Lothal is mentioned at par with Mesopotamia and Egypt.

Fifty years back, Lothal was merely a deserted, dusty, sleepy mound surrounded by farms in Gujarat’s Bhal region. Then S.R.Rao and this mound met each other (November 1954). Lothal was then excavated between 1955 February and 1962. One barren mound ultimately turned into an international archaeological destination on the world map.

Lothal tells the story of more than 4,500 years old story of a city. The story of Lothal is available in two volumes written by S.R.Rao. The size of each volume matches to old telephone directory of Mumbai. However the stories of how Lothal site was selected for excavation, and what happened during the course of excavation are untold.

And I tried to learn about these untold stories in detail when met S.R.Rao. In the course of writing an article, I also met some of the veterans of Gundi, Lakshmisar etc villages. These villages are located near Lothal.

The story of Eureka moment

When Pakistan was separated from India, the great archaeological site of Harappa, Mohenjo Daro went to Pakistan. A need to discover similar Indus civilization site in India was realized. Gujarat’s Rangpur was selected as one of the potential places to carry out excavation. The Archaeological department asked archaeologist Subbarao to start excavation at Rangpur, however Subbarao refused the offer. Thus the task was assigned to S.R.Rao.

S.R.Rao was in his 30s and took the challenge. He visited Rangpur and started excavation. The site however couldn’t offer much even after days of excavation. Seals and some substantial evidences couldn’t be found during Rangpur excavation.

Rao therefore took a decision to discover a better Harappan site, and with this goal in mind, he started exploring villages close to the Sabarmati valley area.

S.R.Rao had his old jeep to help him. The jeep was so old, that it would stop working anytime, anywhere. Baburao Kadam was his driver. Dr. Rao and Kadam would push the jeep, and local teen-agers who were excited about Rao’s activity of looking for clay parts in neglected pockets of the area also used to readily offer to help with a smile.

Rao would keep clay pieces of broken pot with Harappan era painting over it in his pocket and would show it to villagers and ask whether such pieces were found at any place in or around their village. And at some places, villagers would simply reply, “Sir, why are you working so hard to find such pieces of pots, we are ready to offer you unbroken pots in one piece.”

One day, S.R.Rao was informed that in Koth village’s cremation ground such painted pieces of clay pots were found. Rao reached cremation place and started checking the ground. The villagers literally gathered to see this and laughed at him.

Every researcher waits for an Eureka moment in his life. Only a fully committed and able researcher gets such a moment. One evening, S.R.Rao’s jeep stopped working on Koth-Dhandhuka road. He was forced to halt in the night at Arnej mandir. Next morning while he was on the way to Dhandhuka, he saw a wedding procession crossing the road. He stopped his jeep. He spotted a mound nearby. One local villager Mahipatsingh was passing through the road on his bullock card. Mr. Rao stopped him and showed him the clay pieces of the Harappan era pot. He asked Mahipatsingh whether such pieces were seen near that mound. Mahipatsingh replied positively and added that not one or two, but lots and lots of pieces were to be found there. Mahipatsingh’s farm was just next to the mound, and he told Shri Rao that he had spent his entire childhood playing on that mound.

The jeep was standing at some distance away from that mound. There were around one km length of farms between the jeep and the mound. It was a post-monsoon time. Bhal is low lying area and therefore there were knee deep waters in the fields. The mound was visible across the waters and the farms.

Shri Rao was advised that he should visit the mound only in winter, but he simply couldn’t wait and asked Mahipatsingh to immediately take him to the mound. Shri Rao, driver Baburao Kadam, Mahipatsingh and Rao’s aide Sheikh walked across one km of water and reached the location.

Because it was after the monsoons, Shri Rao could easily excavate the surface using his tools, wherein he found clay parts, beads and a stone blade. These were all vocal evidences of the existence of a Harappan culture site. This was a Eureka moment for both Rao and the mound itself. Rao raised his two hands and happily shouted, “We have got the site.”

The story of excavation

Local farmers were using this mound to saw Jaar. Due to tilling activity and sharpness of rain, the mound was losing one ft surface level every year. After the excavation started, an old well was found just by digging two ft of surface. Supposing Rao had not spotted the site in time, agricultural activity may have damaged the well and other evidence in the next couple of years.

Which was the most memorable incident during the Lothal excavation I asked S.R.Rao, and the legend replied: There was a small temple of Vahanvati mata over the top of the Lothal mound. To start the third phase of excavation in 1956, it was necessary to relocate the small temple. The locals opposed such a move. After lots of consultation they approved relocation, and we could start excavations there. But then there was a tragedy. Just within a few days there was an accident there. We had put a ladder in a 15 ft deep space from which laborers would pull out mud and pass it onto persons standing above them. But the ladder suddenly collapsed and the man standing right at the bottom died. He was a TB patient. Those injured were taken to Dholka hospital. The laborers were angry after the incident and stopped working. There was a feeling among laborers and local villagers that such a tragedy took place because we had relocated the mandir of goddess Vahanvati. The workers went on strike for five days following this incident.

Shri S.R.Rao said he was in Chittorgadh at that time and was informed about this incident by his aid Shrivastav through telegram. After reaching Lothal, Shri Rao requested local reputed person Mr. Kantilal Tripathi to cool down the villagers. Thanks to Tripathi’s intervention,a middle path arrived soon. A decision to build a new mandir of Vahanvati mata was taken. A new mandir was built and murthy of mataji was installed with proper ceremony there. The excavation work resumed only after that.

Vahanvati mata is the goddess of sailors. Her small temples facing the sea are found at places from which sailors venture into the sea with their boats. In Lothal, the Vahanvati mandir was facing the direction of an old dockyard which was later excavated and discovered. This was significant as Lothal was a port in the Harappan era.

Shri Rao has written in his bulky volume on Lothal that until the 19th century, country made crafts used to venture upto Lothal. The senior citizens of Bholad village located near Lothal had told Mr.Rao that Lothal used to witness boats from Moti Boru until just 80 years ago. Boats would reach Lothal from Bholad through Lothal-Saragwala creek. In 1942, Saragwala received wood from Bharuch through sea route.

After shifting Vahanvati mata’s original temple, an ancient warehouse site was found just beneath it. As many as 62 seals were found from this location in just two days. Seal marks were glued over the packaged material for trading. Lothal excavation offered 213 seal marks, the highest among them were with the Unicorn mark.

Shri Rao told me, “If we carry out our excavations slowly, skillfully and with proper attention, maximum objects can be unearthed successfully in their original form. The villagers that were hired for the excavation task used to work speedily, which was not good. So we announced Re. 1 price for discovery of each unbroken Harappan seal. This changed the priorities of laborers. And the result? Skill took over the speed, and within two hours, from a space as small as three square ft, fifty seals were discovered. Sometimes we would offer paid leave as a reward.”

“Recently there was an archaeological excavation in Hathab near Bhavnagar where laborers got Rs 90 per day, while in Lothal each male labor was paid Rs 2.25 per day, female labor Rs 1.5 and each younger person was paid Rs 1.25 per day. If someone found something very precious or important, like a golden necklace, he/she would get a higher reward.”

The Lothal museum features a photograph of a golden necklace which was discovered at the site. The original necklace is placed in a Delhi museum. It should be brought back to Gujarat and should be exhibited here. Or as a middle path, at least its replica should be made and showcased here. Such replicas can be made available for purchase too.

According to Jayrambhai Prajapati from Gundi village near Lothal and who worked as a laborer during excavation, the laborers were directed to shout and ask the concerned officer when something was discovered on the excavation site without leaving the place. One officer was present there for each 15 sq ft block. Laborers were asked to check the soil twice. Later the third check was carried out by the concerned officer appointed to look after a particular block. (Jayrambhai’s photo is presented here with garland. When I visited Lothal, I took couple of garlands with me to honor him and Mahobatsinh-also in photo who had participated in excavation task).

Lothal museum showcases a set of very tiny micro Beads. They are so small that the museum offers magnify lens, so that visitors can watch them properly. Even in such micro sized beads, the artists of ancient Lothal town had created a hole to pass the thread through. This required amazing skill. Lothal used to export such beads to the middle east.

I asked S.R.Rao how such micro beads were successfully excavated from the site. He told me that this task was assigned exclusively to women, because women have expertize in picking unnecessary things from wheat etc.

According to Jayrambhai, there were pots full of thousands of beads during excavation. Jayrambhai recalls a day when ancient skeletons were discovered at Lothal. “We had to guard the skeletons the entire night to save them from animals. A special chemical spray was used to separate soil from bones of skeletons. This also helped in strengthening the bones. As many as three pairs of skeletons were discovered at Lothal. In each case two persons were buried together. Was Sati tradition practiced in Lothal? Possibly.

Like Jayrambhai, about 200 local villagers of Lakshmisar, Gundi, Saragvala villages were involved in the excavation task. Rao said, “Initially we brought experienced and trained laborers from Rangpur site, but after some time, the villagers around Lothal learnt a few things and then they too were employed for this task. Villagers were asked to inform the concerned officer whenever they found a solid surface. One Narayanbhai was assigned the task of bringing laborers. He was so honest that he would give surplus money back. When we needed to acquire some land for Lothal’s excavation, the farmers of Lakshmipura happily gave away their farms with standing crops. Even though they knew that they would get their compensation only after a long delay, and not immediately.”

And not only local villagers, but people of Ahmedabad also always love, interest and affection to the Lothal excavation project. ASI’s then Director General Amlanand Ghosh once told Ahmedabad’s Chinubhai Sheth that the department may possibly wind up the excavation after two three seasons due to lack of fund. Chinubhai reacted, “something can be arranged.” Chinubhai then held a meeting with few of Ahmedabad’s industrialists. Next time when Mr. Ghosh visited Ahmedabad again, Chinubhai told him that some of the industrialists from Ahmedabad were ready to offer 6-7 lakhs which would help push the excavation task further for at least one season. Chinubhai added that the project must not stop. After witnessing this level of interest among the people of Ahmedabad for Lothal’s excavation, Mr. Ghosh returned back to Delhi and with his best efforts, he managed to approve a higher budget for the excavation.

The archaeologists at Lothal would stay in tents. Due to strong winds in Bhal region, the tents would dance. There was a well on the excavation site, but it wouldn’t work in the summer. Drinking water was therefore supplied in bullock carts from nearby villages. Mahobatsinh(in photo with garland) who lives in Gundi village at present was given the task of carrying water to the site.

In another instance, Shri Ambalalbhai, the owner of Calico mills once visited the site. The archaeologists were involved in their tasks. Ambalalbhai silently visited the kitchen tent of Lothal site, and asked the cook whether everything was alright at his end and proper facilities were available to feed archaeologists and those involved in excavation tasks. The cook in his reply to Sheth Ambalalbhai told that vegetables were supplied only once in three days and therefore the archaeologists were served vegetables only once in two-three days. Next morning, Ambalalbhai’s black car arrived at the site. It was packed with fresh vegetables.

When skeletons were discovered at the Lothal site, the international media too took note. Various villages were organizing tours to Lothal in those years. One industrialist came to Lothal and told Rao, “In Amdavad everyone is asking one another whether they’d visited Lothal or not? Whether they’d gone to see the excavation work in progress or not?”

Various international experts in the field of Archaeology also visited the excavation site. London’s FE Zunar, Harappa-Mohenjo’s archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler, great Archeologist Gordon Child, Chicago’s R.J. Braidwood, German Archaeological Institute’s President Prof. Boringar were among the experts who’d visited the site.

By 1961-62, after seven years of excavation, as many as 16,000 antiquities were discovered from Lothal. The Archaeological department took the decision to wind up the site to carry out post-excavation tasks including the scientific test of these 16,000 objects and publication of a report.

Shri Rao showed me two bulky volumes of Lothal excavation report (I too posses these volumes in my library),and replicas of ancient seals of Lothal. Shri Rao told me how he recently set up an exhibition of Lothal seals and Indus script at National Sanskrit School(deemed university) in Tirupati. He said he was healthy enough and wanted to visit the site of Lothal again. He added, “I want to visit Lothal because the task is not completed. Look at this map in Lothal report, there is a portion titled as ‘unexcavated’ area. This part should be excavated. Discovery of pre-Harappan objects is possible here.” And while he was saying this, I spotted sudden shine in his eyes. After all this was S.R.Rao. One Eureka moment was not enough for him.