Evidence of Pandavas in Delhi’s Purana Qila, says Kishan
Union Minister for Culture G Kishan Reddy at the ASI excavation site in Purana Qila in Delhi. Inset Showing two images of statues/idols found at the excavation site.
HYDERABAD: Is the Archaeological Survey of India getting close to finding evidence that the Pandavas, the heroes of Mahabharata, were in Indraprastha, in what is now Delhi? Union minister for culture G. Kishan Reddy on Tuesday indicated that such findings could be on the cards at an ASI dig site in the Purana Qila of New Delhi which he called an “important archaeological site”.
Kishan Reddy, speaking with reporters in New Delhi after a visit to the ASI excavation site, said the Pandvas had asked the Kauravas for five villages and Indraprastha was one of the five villages. He said, “We are finding some evidence and we have named this site the Indraprastha excavation site.”
He said a fresh round of excavation, the third round of work by the ASI at Purana Qila, began this January. The earlier rounds of work at the dig were in 2013-14 and 2017-18, he said.
In all, nine cultural levels have been found in the excavations so far and among the findings were some clay items, a few statues of idols, coins and other artefacts. “All of these will be preserved in museums and I will also request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to organize a visit to this site by the heads of states of the G20 group of nations,” Kishan Reddy said.
The findings and artefacts unearthed in earlier excavations comprise painted grey ware, belonging to 900 BC, an earthen pottery sequence from Maurya to Shunga, Kushana, Gupta, Rajput, different sultanates and Mughal periods.
