The Ahmedabad Diaries - Day 8 (Lothal)

 We took a cab to Lothal which is a 4000 year old Harappan Port Town - part of the Harappan Civilisation. The ASI leaflet describes it as an ancient mound - the literal meaning of the word 'Lothal' is 'place of the Dead'. The structural remains of this Harappan town which were excavated in 1952-62 period by one Dr S R Rao date back to circa 2500-1900 BC.

Well - the dockyard behind

Can see the brick wall in the water

Lothal is about 80 kms from Ahmedabad on the road to Rajkot which is mostly nice until you turn off into the state roads which take another 25 kms. Our taxi driver Nigam was an affable chap who apparently got recently married - a love marriage he said, and an inter caste one. He moonlights as a taxi driver but does one call center job for a few months every summer. He discontinued his Civil Engineering diploma and lives in the hope of a nice job - maybe in the construction industry. he lamented that he is from the forward caste and has no reservation and that in the many attempts at becoming an SI he did not pass. Anyway he said, if there are any jobs I could let him know. It's not as maudlin as it sounds because he is actually a cheerful and professional chap.

Warehouse

Another perspective

The last part is not very good as it is still being laid. You park, there's no entry fee, and all you get is an advise not to touch the monuments or the cordoned off stuff. The entire site is not very big, at least the part we get to see, maybe spread over a couple of acres at best. 

The biggest sights on site are the dock which comes immediately to the right, a brick wall constructed to carry out water flow designed scientifically to withstand the water thrust. Also apparently it has a unique water locking device. To the naked eye we saw a pool of water, no channel, the brick wall shows under water. Since there is no guide we have no idea what's what. A guide would really help - even an audio guide.

Acropolis

Acropolis

Next up is the next biggest attraction which is the warehouse which comes to the left which stands on a high platform. Again as per the ASI leaflet there were 64 cubical blocks of mud brick built on the platform for providing wooden canopy to protect the cargo etc. What we see are a few walls or foundations made of bricks, designed and built well so we know that they  knew what they were doing.

Lower Town

Further up is the main part of the mound, the highest part, which is the Citadel also called the Acropolis, where the royals lived. Below that is the part they called the Lower Town where the artisans apparently lived. One can see the well laid out drainages and water wells and walls. Beside the Citadel is a small bead factory and further to the left of the Lower Town is the cemetery where they found skeletons in graves - single and double.

The Harappans were actively involved in trade with Persia and other middle eastern places and its overseas trade involved semi precious stone beads, copper, ivory, shell and cotton goods with West Asia. Objects like a seal of Persian Gulf origin, terracotta figurines of a Gorilla and a Mummy indicate a strong overseas contact.

The bottom pic is an artist's representation of how the town must have been

Then came frequent floods in 1900 BC and the Harappans abandoned the town in around 1700 BC.

Someone selling beads - Dude, really!

Interesting guavas - bought some

There is supposedly a museum which is not functional. So what you get is what you see. Anyway, I enjoyed the day out at Lothal.