Rakhigarhi has been in the news for being the largest site of Sindhu Saraswati or Indus Valley Civilization. So, it had been on my wish list for a while. When I planned my trip to Agroha, we also took a detour to visit Rakhigarhi.
I remember reading about Harappa and Mohenjodaro in history textbooks in school. The joy of watching the dancing girl of Harappa in the National Museum in Delhi was my only connection with those history lessons. Then I visited Lothal which showed me the microbeads and the earliest known port.
It is not easy to visit Rakhigarhi as the site is being actively excavated. However, the excavation happens in a small window that the weather conditions allow.
Where is Rakhigarhi?
Rakhigarhi is in the Hissar district of Haryana, not too far from the city. Although the name Rakhigarhi has gained prominence, the site is spread across two villages primarily – Rakhi Khas and Rakhi Shahpur. It is a huge site, bigger than any archaeological site that I have seen. ASI board tells me that it is spread across 500 hectares.
It is in the planes of the Ghaggar River which today is about 25 km away from the site. Historically, it is identified to be along the ancient Drishtawati River which formed the boundary of the ancient Kurukshetra. Today it is identified as Chautang River.
As we entered the village, I was reminded of my childhood in similar small towns in Punjab. It was almost like time travel when you go through narrow lanes where people are sitting out and chatting. They try their best to help you with the directions, maybe wondering what is there in those ruins.
Rakhigarhi Archaeological Site
Though the first excavations took place in 1969 CE, the major work on this site was done since the late 1990s. Since then, the excavations have been carried out consistently. Overall, ASI has identified 11 mounds for excavation named RGR-I to the RGR-XI.
It is believed to be a major metropolitan or urban center of the Indus Valley Civilization. Evidences suggest its occupation from the initial to the mature phase of the civilization with dates ranging from the 5th to the 3rd millennium BCE.
RGR-II at Rakhigarhi
We first landed at the entrance of RGR-2. A red sandstone board duly gave us the information about this site. We entered the mound which was just a mound with a slight incline, not too difficult to climb.
The excavations here were done…
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