ASI Set To Excavate Rakhigarhi, Delhi's Purana Qila Again To Further Investigate Sindhu-Saraswati Civilisation, Mahabharata-Era Sites

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is set to do excavations at 17 sites in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Karnataka and West Bengal, Jagran reported.

The ASI has given permission to excavate at 42 sites in total. With ASI excavating at 17 sites, 12 sites will be excavated by universities and 13 by states. Every year, ASI permits excavations at a few sites.

ASI will itself be excavating at Rakhigarhi in Haryana, Puran Qila in Delhi, Baghpat's Tilwara and Jhansi's Rath in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Tajpur Deur in Bihar.

The Sindhu-Saraswati civilisation site Rakhigarhi, which proved that Aryans did not come from outside India, will be excavated further. The Buddha stupas in Bihar's Champaran will also be excavated.

The Tilwara site in UP and Delhi's Purana Qila are linked to the Mahabharat era. It is believed that the capital of Pandavas, Indraprastha, was around Puran Qila. It will be excavated for the sixth time since independence.

The burial grounds of Ahom kings and queens Chariadeo Moidam, which has been recently included in the UNESCO World Heritage site, will also be excavated.

The maximum number of sites of excavation are in Tamil Nadu, eight. Telangana and Maharashtra governments will do excavations at two sites each and the Assam government will excavate one site.

Two sites in West Bengal, Brahmagiri in Karnataka and Lothal in Gujarat, another Sindhu-Saraswati civilisation site, will also be excavated by the ASI.