Haryana Government to Set Up International Level Museum at Panchkula

By 121 News

Chandigarh 13^th May:- Haryana Government would set up a Rs 30 crore museum of international level at Panchkula, near here, to display significant archeological findings and a Rs five crore State level museum would also be set up at village Rakhigarhi in district Hisar, over a piece of land measuring five acres donated by the village panchayat, to display various items excavated at Rakhigarhi. Rakhigarhi is the biggest site of Harappan civilization in the South-east Asia. This was stated by Haryana Archeology Minister, Ram Bilas Sharma while addressing a press conference here today.

Ram Bilas Sharma said that while the work to set up museum at Panchkula would commence within next 3 to 4 months, the work on museum at Rakhigarhi would be taken up within a month. He said that the excavations would be displayed in the museums in such a manner that even the comman man would be able to easily understand their significance and the cultural heritage. Also, these museums would become centers of attraction for the tourists.   

The Minister said that the excavations made at Rakhigarhi revealed that it would be the fourth biggest township in the world. The other three included Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa in Pakistan and Dholavira in Kutch, Gujarat in India.The Archeologists are of the view that Rakhigarhi would have been the biggest township of India during Indus Civilization.  

The Additional Chief Secretary, Archeology, Vijai Vardhan said that the excavations reflect signs of drainage at  Rakhigarhi during Indus Civilization. It reveals that at that time in Haryana there used to be drains along streets and roads in addition to houses. Also, during those days there used to be a wall around the city. It has been noticed that in Rakhigarhi there used to be developed drainage system of two types including public and private. Terracotta pipes used for drainage have also been found. Private drains possibly connected to platforms have been observed at the uppermost levels of the mature Harappan phase of Rakhigarhi.  The excavations include utensils, human skeletons and images of ox, cow and buffalos and ornaments made of stones, stone statues and weapons made of bones. The finding of clay toys of cattle makes one believe that during those days people used to worship them. An important seal of Rakhigarhi depicts a composite figure of a man, bull, unicorn, elephant and tiger. A seal of a tiger excavated could be the logo of the museum to be set up at Rakhigarhi.

While some graves had mud plastered walls, instances of bodies buried in coffins too have been found. The belief in the concept of after life is established by the dead being buried wearing ornaments – with a number of undecorated pots.  The site at Rakhigarhi is spread over an area of about 325 hectares and has a height of  22 m from surface level. Now the site is under the protection of Archeological Survey of India.

While referring to the future plans of the Department, Vijai Vardhan said that the earlier excavated structures would be uncovered, preserved and protected for the benefit of the public. Dome structures would be raised on them so that they are safe and viewed all year around. Excavations will be undertaken at the Habitation as well as Burial portion of the site  to establish proper cultural sequence, understand settlement pattern, health, diet and composition of Harappan population. Apart from setting up onsite conservation labs, training in conservation and excavation would be imparted.