Slice of history: Nawabs probably used fish-shaped boats for transport in 17th century, says historian.
The ongoing excavation work at Chattar Manzil reached another level on Monday as workers unearthed a ‘water gateway’ leading to this iconic structure.
The UP Rajkiya Nirman Nigam (UPRNN), the construction agency engaged in the restoration of the structure, termed it one of the major discoveries so far.
Officials said workers engaged in the excavation stumbled upon a ‘cylindrical structure’ that was lying buried for years.
On clearing the debris, it was found that the structure made of lakhauri bricks was a tunnel, which connects the over 200-year-old Chattar Manzil to river Gomti, flowing just a few metres away.
“This tunnel is around nine metres beneath the ground,” said Nitin Kohli, the contractor supervising the excavation work.
The task is being performed under the supervision of a high-powered committee comprising Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU), State Archaeology Department and officials of the civil engineering department, IIT BHU.
Experts said once they are done with the excavation work, they would explore details like the total length of the tunnel and where it leads to.
Officials said the discovery of the tunnel would unravel another chapter from the history of Chattar Manzil and Kothi Farhatbaksh.
The tunnel would also demystify myths and folklore about the Nawabs using water boats to sail within the palace complex, they added.
However, historians have a different take on this tunnel.
PC Sarkar, a noted historian, said: “The structure seems more of a water gate than a tunnel.”
He said some old timers who have been to Kothi Farhatbaksh (Lakhi Pera), residence of major general Claude Martin, had mentioned the structural uniqueness of the twin structures. “In fact, it is on record that the structures were easily approachable from the northern (river Gomti) side by boat also,” added Sarkar.
“After Nawab Saadat Ali Khan bought the fortress-like structure, it was remodelled into a palace-like structure. However, the river side entrance remained the principal one, with the Nawab adding pavilions in the middle of the river itself,” he said.
He said Gomti was the main channel of transport – the nawabs used barges (boats) of various shapes and sizes, some looking like fishes, crocodiles, for transport in the 17th century. The famous ‘More Pankh’ boats were in vogue during that era, said Sarkar.
He said ‘water gates’ may sound unique now, but they were common in the olden days.
The Lucknow Residency too had a ‘water gate’. But it became defunct when Gomti changed its course and more means of road transport came up, he said.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Lucknow / by Oliver Fredrick, Hindustan Times,Lucknow / November 20th, 2018
Both sides of my Punjabi grandparents had fled the violent senselessness of Partition, and settled in Lucknow, the provincial capital of the United Provinces – aptly perhaps, as it approximated the refined sensibilities of a Lahore unwillingly left behind. The air of liberality, multi-culturality and fine aesthetics was so common, that all other relatives who had settled in the other cities of fleeing continued to yearn for their Lahore; while my grandparents wove their lives into the tapestry of Lucknow the way countless others from far more distant lands had done, since time immemorial, enriching this habitation on the banks of Gomti to give it an unmatched romance and character.
The land of Awadh (or its more mellifluous name Oudh, almost fragrant, if words could be so) healed the weary, wounded and tired souls from Lahore into a familiar embrace of inclusivity. Both cities had had mythological references, Vedic genealogical claims… and if Lahore boasted of an Amir Khusrow, then Lucknow had a Mir Babar Ali Anis, a Josh Malihabadi, a Bismil and countless others. The sheer genteelness of Lucknow, its mannerisms and its citizenry had survived the ravages of time and history – to remain quintessentially ‘Lucknow’.
I didn’t know of any other identity except the innocent pride in saying ‘Hum Lucknow sey hain…’ Befittingly baptised into the cosmopolitan pot of Lucknow, my ‘wonder years’ were spent in an institution, La Martiniere Boys College, founded by a reckless French adventurer in 1845. We happy souls included an eclectic bunch from the families of swaggering Taluqdars, wistful Nawabs, pedigreed landed-peasantry, stunningly good-looking Anglo-Indians and then some like us, Lucknow’s newest thoroughbreds.
They say time and distance change one’s perspective – but it never did for us, as many moons later, after much water had flowed down the Gomti, the Old Martinieres still wear their Lucknow on their hearts. Our conversations are still peppered with the exaggerated drags on our de-rigeur ‘amma yaars’ and the ‘hums and aaps’ are resolutely observed. Old boys still mischievously rue the absence of ‘adaa’ (and ‘grace’ is such an inadequate description of the complexity of ‘adaa’ – we realised that like a lot many expressions of Lucknowi-Urdu, English remains a very soulless, dull and poor language).
Inside a very political state, somehow our principal identity remained always above the narrow trappings of religious, casteist, socioeconomic or regional identities – we were simply ‘from Lucknow’, and that said a lot. The patented tehzeeb and nazaakat was certainly not the preserve of the privileged classes – it was in the DNA of the rickshawallah at Charbagh Railway Station, who greeted you in his inimitable Lucknowi.
It was ever a moment of very personal and unsaid joy when someone would say, ‘I should have guessed that you are from Lucknow, from the way you speak.’ We always knew the immediate impact and perception of asserting our Lucknow identity, and admittedly there was a reverse snobbery in being well-mannered, sophisticated and gracious, especially since in these times, it is generally more fashionable to be aggressive, loud and violent.
Unbeknownst to many, Lucknow didn’t just happen. It was nurtured by an embarrassment of richness in diversity. The Delhi Sultanate, the Mughal empire, the Marathas, Rajputs, Avadh principalities, British Raj etc. all added to the mysticism, taste, feel and sound of Lucknow, to compose what is now called Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb.
Even in independent India, we were lucky with the caliber, class and standing of our political representatives, from a Vijayalakshmi Pandit, H.N. Bahuguna, Sheila Kaul to the unmatched genius of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and even those who lost out included luminaries like Dr Karan Singh, Muzzafar Ali and Nafisa Ali Sodhi. The epicentre of various societal and political churns, Lucknow retained its poetic softness and profundity. I remember smiling to myself when from the corner of my eye I caught a line that could have only been written for Lucknow in an otherwise very formal and official ‘UP Investment Summit’, as the welcoming line had read ‘Zahe Naseeb, Aap Tashreef Laaye’.
In a rapidly failing world, Lucknow had not failed itself, and I now understood more than ever before, how my grandparents had afforded me a priceless, Lucknow.
Sadly, in recent years the recurring civic, societal and administrative news emanating from Lucknow had us all concerned, but nothing wounded our spirits more than a recent incident where an affluent young man, with a heightened sense of entitlement got into a ugly fracas with some others in a posh Delhi hotel. Along with the gun and expletive-laden threats, he said something strange, that instinctively didn’t sound right: ‘Mein Lucknow sey hoon’, he coldly warned!
Even before we had decoded the regrettable import of his statement, the substitution of ‘Hum’ with ‘Mein’ was obviously not from the Lucknow that I knew. It represented a deeply different context, nuance and sensibilities. The inexplicable pride with which we waxed, ‘Hum Lucknow sey hain…’ conveyed an emotion of almost divine purity, dignity, grandeur and extreme delicacy. Not once was a boorish or uncouth aggression part of our emotional, psychological or vocal syntax. This new context with which ‘Lucknow’ was unequivocally ridiculed, shamed and debased, was almost blasphemous to our ears, spirit and soul.
Was this the new reality I would have to accept, or was is it just the consequence of an oversensitive heart deciphering an unwarranted context to his beloved ‘Lucknow’? It is, actually and sadly, a bit of both.
Time and tide have indeed taken their toll on Lucknow, and yet not wholly. I still take heart in the gracious rickshawallah at Charbagh, who still insists on and perpetuates the Lucknow that I want to know.
Mirza Dabeer once wrote about a Mir Aniz from Lucknow: ‘Aasman Bey Mah-e-Kamil, Sidray Bey Rooh-ul-Ameen, Toor-e-Seena Bey Kaleem-ul-Lah, Mimber Bey Anis’ (Poor is the sky without the full moon, And the empyrean without Gabriel is meaningless, Nothing is Mount Toor without Moses, And the pulpit without Anis is worthless).
The euphemistic pulpit of Mir Anis in the context of Lucknow resonates, thrives and lives in the Lucknow of my heart, soul and imagination, and I cannot but continue saying with justifiable pride, ‘Hum Lucknow sey hain…’
Cover Photograph: Charbagh railway station in Lucknow
(Anurag Dewan is an entrepreneur and freelance writer).
source: http://www.thecitizen.in / The Citizen / Home / by Anurag Dewan / October 23rd, 2018
This Indian city in north India is a mystical place of funeral pyres and bare-chested holy men, a city balancing ancient traditions and bumper-to-bumper traffic
Image Credit: Graham Crouch/New York Times
To most people, Varanasi is not a place, it’s an idea. A microcosm of India in all its myriad hues — timeless, exotic and full of promises. A mystic land where life and death are spiritual experiences, where funeral pyres line river banks, and saffron-clad, bare-chested holy men perform mysterious rituals that cannot be witnessed anywhere else on the earth.
True, Varanasi, also known as Benares, is all of these. But it is also much more. At a time when history is being rewritten to suit a singular narrative, the ghats of Varanasi stand as an oasis of mutual acceptance and harmonious living. Despite the fact that Kashi — another name for Varanasi — is considered to be the cradle of Hinduism, at the ghats, the River Ganga is maiyya (mother) to all, regardless of their faith.
The members of Varanasi’s large weaving community are made up both Hindus and Muslims and to them, the river is their guardian and protector. The ghats are where one can see Muslim families sitting right next to where a pooja (Hindu ritual worship) is happening, and performing sadka — offerings in the name of the divine. Setting free live fish into the Ganga is one such ritual, meant to protect person and property from evil because “where else do fish belong except with Ganga maiyya?” as a shy young man tells the Weekend Reivew. He and his father were releasing fish, brought in plastic bags, into the river.
At the ghats, individuals and communities from around the world co-exist as parts of a singular ecosystem. And if spirituality is about human experiences, then the ghats of Varanasi is where one can hope to find eternal bliss.
The first encounter with the city, however, can be anything but spiritual. The ‘highway’ that takes you from the airport to the city is narrow, bumpy and caked in dust. A taxi must weave its way past humans and cattle, as well as endless flow of four-, three- and two-wheeled vehicles in all sizes and shapes — and from every direction at once. ‘Lane’ and ‘safe distance’ are alien concepts here, and a self-respecting taxi merely brushes past everything around it with complete indifference.
“A lot of accidents occur, especially at night,” says Sunil Verma, an airport taxi driver. “Cattle roam free on the roads, and with not enough streetlights, we often end up running into them. And, believe me, that spells big trouble.”
An overhead ring road meant to significantly ease the traffic is under construction. At the moment, however, the massive concrete pillars that hold it up just add to the misery of the drivers. And as many of the drivers were traditionally farmers who had to turn to other professions for subsistence, they have a different set of woes to share, including interminable power-cuts and the unplanned urbanisation that has made farming unviable.
Closer to the city, roads become even more congested, and the last leg of the journey to the ghats has to be completed on foot, across broken pavements — again dodging humans and animals. But if one manages to look up from the path, ancient but beautiful buildings can be seen on either side of the road, mostly in various states of disrepair. Electric wires run overhead in hopeless tangles, with absolute disregard for human life below. For a city of more than one million and an endless inflow of pilgrims and tourists, the infrastructure is very poor. The city seems to have grown inward, like an ailing toenail, and if first-time visitors begin to doubt the wisdom of their choice, they cannot be blamed.
And then, one reaches the threshold that marks the beginning of the ghat. Stepping over the threshold is like crossing a portal and entering another world, one that is beyond anything that even a movie-and-literature-fuelled imagination could be prepared for. The Ganga is immense like a sea, with hundreds of similar-shaped wooden row boats undulating peacefully on her calm waters. Flocks of seagulls rise up and swoop down to circle the boats, their squawks mingling with the sound of brass bells ringing in the distance. The sheer beauty and grandeur takes your breath away
“The Ganga is our mother,” says Bhola majhi, one of the thousands whose lives are tied to the ghats. “We majhis (boatmen) have been ferrying passengers from the time of Pandavas,” he adds, referring to the legend of the Mahabharata that was supposed to have taken place thousands of years ago. “Taking pilgrims for ‘Kashi Darshan’ is not just our trade, it is our duty.”
But behind his smiling words are the dark shadows of an age-old caste system that binds communities to their traditional roles. The son of a majhi carries on with his father’s trade, just as the son of a Dom inherits from his ancestors the onus of cremating bodies on the ghat. “But I send all three of my children to school,” says majhi, “because I want to give them the opportunity that I did not get.”
From the boat on the Ganga, the view of the upper embankment with its long row of beautiful ochre-coloured buildings, each a remnant of a passing dynasty, is spectacular. Dasaswamedh Ghat, Munshi Ghat, Narad Ghat, Manmandir Ghat… there are 84 in total. But Harishchandra Ghat in the middle stands out for its dark and desolate appearance.
“They cremate bodies here, a practice since the days of King Harishchandra,” says Bhola majhi, narrating a story from the Mahabharata, of a virtuous ruler who fell into hard times and had to cremate bodies at the ghat to feed his family.
Life and death flourish together on the ghats, feeding off each other. According to Hindu beliefs, the soul of a person who dies in Kashi, or has their last rites performed here, attains liberation from the cycle of life and death. Dasaswamedh Ghat has a long row of wooden platforms to one side that await pilgrims who bathe in the Ganga and proceed to ensure the last rites for a family member or a loved one. Local priests perform these rituals for a fee.
Many elderly and terminally ill people travel from all parts of India to the ghats seeking a peaceful death. In fact, Varanasi has guest houses that cater exclusively to the dying, the most famous among them being Mukti Bhawan, where ‘guests’ are allowed weeks to die. If they do not oblige in the given time, they must leave. The bodies of the ones that die in Varanasi are cremated in one of the two ghats: Manikarnika or Harishchandra, with most of the cremations taking place in Manikarnika Ghat.
On a winter evening, the mere sight of Manikarnika Ghat from the Ganga is enough to stun a person to silence. In the gathering darkness, huge bonfires can be seen blazing, their flames and smoke reaching for the skies.
“Those are bodies, being burnt,” majhi points out casually. “At Manikarnika, cremation happens day and night.” It is hard for a visitor to suppress a shiver at the reality of death as seen here.
Until recently, Manikarnika Ghat had a gruesome reputation, as half-burnt bodies used to be dumped into the river to make space for others. Fortunately, the Clean Ganga Project which was kicked off in 2014 has put an end to that practice. The project, however, has not stopped large pipes from dumping effluent into the river, as can be seen at Harishchandra Ghat.
Religion is big business in Varanasi — in fact, the most lucrative of all. Home to more than 2,000 temples including the famous Kashi Viswanath near the ghats, Varanasi has exclusive temple guides who cut through lengthy queues and take visitors straight to the sanctum sanctorum — for a hefty fee — and a gullible pilgrim may part with more money than they had bargained for.
Most of the local population of Varanasi make their living from tourism as priests, tour guides, vendors, weavers, boatmen. Children even dress up as deities for tourists to take photographs — for a nominal fee. And dominating everyone with their sheer presence are the babas, the legendary holy men of the ghats, with their ash-smeared bodies and long, matted hair. While many of them are spiritual beings who live in their own separate worlds, there are those earthly enough to pose for photographs for a fee.
“How else can I subsist?” asks Dollar Baba, whose name is derived from the currency that most of his income comes in.
Many old houses near the ghats have been converted into home-stay facilities where visitors can rent rooms with basic amenities. Rani Pandey, whose house is near Dasaswmedh Ghat, rents out the rooms of her ancestral home at reasonable rates, while her brother Santhosh Pandey runs a restaurant on the ground floor. The amenities are barebones at best, owing to long power-cuts and constant occupation of rooms. However, these places not only provide cheap accommodation to visitors, they also offer a livelihood to a local population with little education or training. These men and women work as cooks, cleaners and handymen in these facilities, albeit for very low wages. Most of their earnings come from the tips they receive from guests.
Poverty here is seen in dirty streets and pathways, in sidewalks that spill over to fill narrow roads, and in the quiet desperation of people. It reflects too in the general inability of many to break out of caste-based roles or to question existing norms.
The situation is worse for the weaving community in Varanasi and its surroundings. Most of the weavers of the world-famous Benares silk, known for the beauty and fine quality of its weave and motifs, now live in abject poverty. The advent of imported mechanised looms have worsened their plight by offering cheaper products to customers.
Though education as a harbinger of change has taken its time to reach Varanasi, it is here to stay. Like Bhola majhi, there are many others who ensure that their children get educated. Lakshmi, a single mother and second-generation migrant from Tamil Nadu, says she will do anything to educate her daughter Bhoomika.
“I send her to a good school, and pay for private tuitions as well,” she says. “I don’t have the knowledge to clear her doubts, you see. She wants to be a teacher, and I’m going to make her one.”
Ever since her husband left her as a pregnant 17-year old, Lakshmi has been selling bead necklaces, bracelets and other accessories, most of which she herself makes and sells from her stall on the stone steps of the ghats.
“On a good day, I make up to a Rs1,000 (Dh58), but on most days, it is much less,” she says. “And there are days when I make nothing at all.” Yet, not only does she manage to keep Bhoomika in school, she also looks after her widowed mother. “Life is hard, but no one starves on the ghats. Ganga maiyya sees to that.”
The allure of Varanasi’s ghats seems to transcend not only religious beliefs, but also geographies, cultures and languages, bringing people from as far as Europe, Australia, the Americas, China and the Far East. Some, like Monique and Victor from the French Alps, find communication a real problem, but not enough to disenchant them.
“Of course, we will return,” says Monique. “We have to. There is something to this place.”
“How many days would it really take to get a feel of the city?” wonders Adam, a young artist from New York who has come to the ghats with his Japanese girlfriend. How many days indeed, to understand the dynamics and undercurrents of this ancient city?
“A lifetime is not enough,” says local Santhosh Panday. “But three or four days would be good.”
Mini S. Menon is a writer based in Dubai.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Culture> People / by Mini S Menon / Special to Weekend Review / April 25th, 2018
Excavation unearths 13 bodies that roughly date back to 11th century AD; discovery leads to calls for a deeper examination because people of the region in that period were known to cremate the dead.
An excavation by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) near Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, has unearthed 13 bodies that roughly date back to 11th century AD, according to people familiar with the developments. This has sparked interest among experts and led to calls for a deeper examination because people of the region in that period were known to cremate the dead.
Historians have defined the era between the 7th century AD and the 12th century AD as the Rajput Period, and archaeologists say that this is the first time that any excavation has revealed the burial of bodies from that period in north India.
“We have found extended burial of 13 persons which include a male, a female, children and a handicapped person,” said Sanjay Manjul, director at the Institute of Archaeology, who is overseeing ASI’s Barnawa excavations.
“While twelve bodies were placed in a particular direction, with the head facing the North, one body was found placed in the opposite direction,” Manjul said.
He said that burial pots were recovered with the bodies, suggesting that people of that era may have believed in life after death.
“Since this is the first discovery of burials which seem to be from the later Rajput period, we need to further examine it scientifically and arrive at an exact time period,” he said.
Manjul feels that the discovery is significant as it will throw light on death rituals and cultural aspect of people of that era living in this area.
“Since Muslim Turks, who used to follow burial practices, arrived in India after the 12th century, it would be interesting to determine who these people were and why were they not cremated,” Manjul said, adding that burials were practised in the Harappan and Later Harappan periods, and also among certain Hindu tribes before the Raput Period.
Other archaeologists and historians feel that these burials might unravel some mysteries of the cultural aspect of life of people.
Dr Buddha Rashmi Mani, Director General, National Museum, says that though he doesn’t have first-hand experience of the excavated materials, the recovery of burial pots suggests the body doesn’t belong to members of the Muslim community.
“The Veerashaiva community in southern India practice burying the dead, so there is a possibility of existence of a similar community at the excavation site in UP,” said Mani.
“However, it is also possible that these bodies were of people who died due to some dangerous disease or some calamity and buried at one place in a group. Both possibilities require through investigation.”
Noted archaeologist KK Muhammed, who is credited for discovering Mughal emperor Akbar’s Ibadat Khana (House of Worship), from where the Mughal king propounded the religion Din-i Ilahi, said that that during wars people would bury bodies due to lack of time and resources in the war field. It’s a notion that historian Kapil Kumar agreed with, but both said that it would be too early to determine the identity of these people and the reasons for such graves, and called for a thorough examination.
According to historian Makkhan Lal, “It’s a good thing that we are paying attention to the excavation of the Rajput Period sites which has not been done so far.”
HT had reported earlier this month that the excavations at Barnawa, which started last December, also tried to determine the existence of the Lakshagriha episode mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. Archaeologists had said that artefacts found there bore strong a cultural resemblance to those found at sites such as Hastinapur, Indraprastha, Kurukshetra and Mathura — places that find mention in the epic.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> India / by Jeevan Prakash Sharma, Hindustan Times,New Delhi / April 26th, 2018
Excavation work underway in Sakatpur village ofSaharanpur district .(HT Photo)
A chance discovery of six copper axes and some pieces of pottery has spurred the Archaeological Survey of India into excavating a site in Sakatpur village of Rampur Maniharan area in Saharanpur district, in the hope of recovering more remains of an old civilization that once flourished in the doab (plains) of Ganga and Yamuna rivers.
A team of archaeologists began the excavation on Friday under the supervision of Dr Bhuvan Vikram, supervising archaeologist, ASI Agra Circle. Vikram, who believes that the excavation may unearth many interesting facts, said, “Excavation is a very slow process and we hope to find pottery and habitat deposition in the depths of the soil.”
Dr Vikram said that a chance discovery of six copper axes attracted the attention of historians and archaeologists towards this tiny village. Some labourers of a nearby brick kiln were digging to collect soil to manufacture bricks and they found six copper axes. They reported the matter to their owner and it was eventually reported to the ASI while passing through different routes. “It sounded interesting and we decided to excavate the land to ascertain the historical and archaeological significance of the region’, said Dr Vikram, who has been camping here to supervise the excavation.
He said the use of copper axes and the type of pottery found here was quite prevalent in the Ganga valley civilisation. Locals very often came across remains of pottery and other things in their fields.
Earlier, the ASI had excavated a site at Sinauli village on Baraut-Chaprauli Road and discovered graveyards and other archaeological remains, including stone jewellery and axes. The site is still an attraction for students of history and archaeology. The then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s daughter had also visited the site and collected inputs about it.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Cities> Lucknow / by S Raju, Meerut, Hindustan Times / February 26th, 2017
In order to invite films makers to UP and boost film production in the state, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has decided to extend entertainment tax waiver Salman Khan blockbuster ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’. Its director Kabir Khan met the CM on Monday. Besides, the government is all set to give tax waiver to two more films – ‘Ishk Ke Parinde’ and ‘Miss Tanakpur Hazir Ho’. A decision in this regard is likely to be taken at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Apart from this, the cabinet is also likely to convert Sarojini Nagar into tehsil of Lucknow district. The cabinet is also likely to approve a proposal for acquiring nearly 14.50 hectares of land in Alipur Alamha village in Kannauj district to develop a modern mandi along the Agra-Lucknow expressway .The expressway is the most prestigious project which will have smart cities, film city, logistical parks and mandis on the entire stretch.
The cabinet is also to take a decision on the funding by the World Bank for the UP Core Road Network Development Projects. Shakuntala Mishra Rehabilitation University is also likely to get more funds for expansion and maintenance of the university campus and academic activities.
Besides, the cabinet is also likely to give its nod to set up 46 outposts of the mines department in 14 districts for increasing surveillance on the illegal mining.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / July 21st, 2015
Here’s something for history buffs to get excited about. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), in excavations carried out at Chandyan village in Baghpat, have found remnants of a house that corresponds to the late Harappan period. The discovery is important since, according to archaeologists, this is the first time evidence of habitation pertaining to that period has been found in the Upper Doab region between Ganga and Yamuna.
The late Harappan phase pertains to the period starting around 1900-1800 BC when the Indus Valley Civilization, popularly known as the Harappan Culture, began to decline. The civilization, which is known for its superior urban planning, is believed to have flourished in the period between 3300 BC to 1300 BC in what is today Pakistan, northwest India and parts of Afghanistan and Balochistan.
Earlier in August, a human skull with a copper crown corresponding to the late Harappan period, was accidentally discovered at a brick kiln site in the village. The ASI started excavating the area on November 27 and found, to its delight, a number of items that pertained to the 4,000-yr-old era. “Till date, we have excavated around 20 burial pots, a pelvic bone of the same man whose skull we had found with a copper crown and a few beads like carnelian, faience and agate. However, the most interesting development, undoubtedly, is the evidence of habitation which was found for the first time. We excavated a mud wall with post holes where wooden pillars were probably fixed to support thatched roofs. We also found multi-level foundations that supported structures in different times,” said AK Pandey, superintending archaeologist, ASI.
Incidentally, the Harappan link to the area was established in 2005 when a farmer accidentally discovered a huge burial site at Sinauli village located just 40km from Chandayan. The Sinauli graves are also believed to correspond to the late Harappan period, strengthening archaeologists’ conviction about the latest find. What got them further excited was finding a clue to the period’s habitation, which they point out, happens very rarely. “During excavations, we found about 50 cm of habitational deposits. The chances of finding habitational structures here is quite uncommon because this is a fertile region and over a period of time, cultivators raze structures to the ground for agricultural purposes. But since we have burial sites here, logically, there should be habitational sites as well. If we extend the area of excavation, we might find something more substantial,” said DN Dimri, director of archaeology, ASI,
However, historians say there is a need to exercise caution. “This certainly looks like a habitational site but a lot more needs to be done to thoroughly establish the theories. In fact, instead of terming it a late Harappan site, I would rather call it a post-Harappan site when just a few remnants of the Harappan culture remained. Its antiquity could be anywhere between 1700 BC to 1500 BC”, said RS Bisht, former joint director general, ASI.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Meerut / by Sandeep Rai, TNN / December 28th, 2014
Making a strong pitch for UP’s “visionary governance”, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said on Wednesday his Samajwadi Party government had envisioned a hi-tech city for Lucknow well before “others” launched the idea of “Smart Cities.” Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposal to build 100 Smart Cities, Akhilesh said “people are talking about Smart Cities today but I don’t see the difference between them and the hi-tech cities Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) proposed years ago.”
At the ground-breaking ceremony of the ambitious IT City, for which the state has partnered with HCL Technologies, the CM said UP government has taken several path-breaking decisions to strengthen UP’s infrastructure, from building four-lane highways to distributing free laptops and bringing metro rail project to Lucknow. “SP government is doing things according to the need of the day. At the same time it has not forgotten its tradition. Apart from getting Amul to set up its plant in Lucknow, we are also making cycle tracks,” Akhilesh added.
Inaugurating three key infrastructure projects for Lucknow—two of them in the IT sector—Akhilesh inaugurated UP’s second Indian Institute of Information Technology, and UP’s first IT City project. “Besides creating job opportunities for UP’s youth, these projects will increase importance of Lucknow and UP in the country,” Akhilesh said.
On Wednesday, the CM also laid the foundation stone of Medanta Awadh, the 1000-bed super specialty cardiology hospital by Gurgaon’s Medanta group in Lucknow. Speaking at the ceremony, Medanta chairman Dr Naresh Trehan said “I am a product of King George’s Medical College and had the dream to pay back Lucknow for what I learnt here. The aim of this hospital is to be able to deliver state-of-the-art health facilities to patients at affordable rates. We hope the government ensures we get this project off the ground as soon as possible.”
The IT City project, rechristened by the state government as CG City, will come up in Lucknow on a total of 830 acres of land. About 530 acres of this land pocket will be developed for residential purposed by the Lucknow Development Authority. As part of the state’s affordable housing policy, the government also plans to build low cost housing facilities on 10-acre plots to be given to beneficiaries with monthly income of Rs 8,000 per month.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / October 16th, 2014
As Calcutta’s Chowringhee welcomed the New Year last night, its counterpart in Lucknow missed a date with history.
The Uttar Pradesh capital was to celebrate the 200th anniversary of its main thoroughfare Hazratganj Road, which was modelled on Chowringhee in 1810, sometime last year.
But the city’s development authority kept missing deadline after deadline for the road’s repair and beautification, which includes renovating and giving a coat of pink and cream to every building flanking it, from shops, bars and restaurants to heritage palaces and mansions.
At midnight yesterday, the 2km road, on which the Raj army had once marched to the residency to put down the sepoys, turned 201 years old without the bicentenary celebrations. Even the usual New Year parties in the upscale street were largely missing because Hazratganj Road is still partially closed for repairs.
Bahujan Samaj Party sources said the planned yearlong celebrations might now begin on January 15, the birthday of chief minister Mayavati.
“It wasn’t planned that way, but now the chief minister may herself flag off the bicentenary programmes on January 15, by when all work would hopefully be complete. It will be her birthday gift to Lucknow’s people,” a senior party leader said.
Many residents have been left disappointed, among them a descendant of Nawab Sadaat Ali Khan, who built the road and many of the mansions on it, largely abandoning Mughal architecture for the European-style buildings he had so admired at Chowringhee.
“We missed a date with history. Everyone knows the road completed 200 years in 2010. Now the street is one year older. They could have begun the celebrations last year and let it spill onto 2011,” said Nawab Ibrahim Ali Khan of Sishmahal.
The celebrations are to kick off with a citizens’ procession, to be led by Lucknow’s oldest resident, 105-year-old Justice R.K. Sharma. The programme includes a roadside exhibition of old photographs of the street. This will be followed by cultural events, such as poetry competitions, through the year.
“But with the centenary year having passed, people will lose much of their enthusiasm,” said Pradip Kapoor, a senior journalist.
The street stretches from Kothi Nur Baux, home to the district magistrate’s office, in the west to Kothi Hayat Baux in the east, where the governor’s house is located.
It is flanked on either side by beautiful buildings such as the Begum Kothi, Khurshid Manzil, Sibtainabad, Amzad Ali Shah Imambarah and the Kankarwali Kothi, all built by Saadat Ali Khan, who ruled Awadh from January 21, 1798, to 1814.
This was the road that Lucknow’s last nawab, Wajed Ali Shah, took when he left his beloved capital for the last time.
Later, Hazratganj Road became an exclusive zone for British officers. It came to have Lucknow’s first bank, first fire station, first ice factory and the first dedicated English movie theatre.
Rosie Llewellyn-Jones, a historian of Lucknow who was here recently, said that sometime before his accession, Saadat had escaped to Calcutta after being implicated in a case. There, he fell in love with the handsome mansions that lined Chowringhee and decided to build a mini-Chowringhee in Lucknow.
So, the road was born. It was originally known as Ganj Road. It got its current name in 1842 when the then nawab, Amzad Ali, dedicated it to the memory of Hazrat Ali, whose tomb is in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan.
Saadat, an enthusiastic builder, commissioned many other palaces in Lucknow, including the Dilkusha Palace, Hayat Baksh Kothi, Farhat Baksh Kothi, Lal Baradari, Chhatar Manzil, Kothi Dil Aram, Munawar Baksh and the Chaupar Stables.
Some of these were designed by noted architect Claude Martin, a French soldier who had turned a general in the British army, historian Yogesh Praveen said.
The Mayavati government woke up to the idea of celebrating the bicentenary in October. But the road had been badly encroached on and its old-world charm was fast fading in the face of unplanned construction.
The Lucknow Development Authority repaired the road, pavements and some heritage buildings, put up iron railings and Victorian-style street lamps, and built a fountain and a huge parking lot. Owners of private buildings were given loans if they couldn’t afford the cost of painting.
A non-government organisation, Lucknow Connect, was already planning bicentennial celebrations for the road but once the government entered the scene, it had to abide by the official deadline.
Mayavati kept sending note after note to her officials to finish the work on time, but Lucknow ended up letting down a part of its history.
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HISTORY ROAD
Name: Hazratganj Road Built: 1810 By: Nawab Saadat Ali Khan Modelled on: Chowringhee Road, Calcutta Known for: Beautiful European-style buildings in a city of arch and dome-dominated
Awadhi architecture. Later, known for Lucknow’s first bank, first fire station and first English movie theatre Mansions: Begum Kothi, Khurshid Manzil, Sibtainabad, Amzad Ali Shah Imambarah, Kankarwali Kothi Modern landmarks: Leading restaurants and bars Witness to history: Last nawab Wajed Ali Shah took the road out of Lucknow; the Raj army marched on it to the residency during the 1857 war of independence
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source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Nation> Story / by Tapas Chakraborty / Lucknow, Sunday – January 02nd, 2011
