Dholavira is one of five largest
Harappan cities discovered in the Indian subcontinent. It dates back from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. The city is remarkable for its exquisite planning, monumental structures, aesthetic architecture, amazing
water harvesting system and a variety in funerary architecture. Archaeologists have also discovered large signs and inscriptions engraved on large stone slabs. The area is surrounded by the desert of Kachchh. The cityscape consists of a citadel, a middle town and a lower town. There are also two stadiums and a series of reservoirs inside the fortified area. Seventeen gates, all built in the fortification walls with equally interesting add-on components, have been exposed so far. In all, certainly in the north gate, there was a door with double leaves within a massive frame with a sill of limestone at either end of the deep passageway. At each end, there were, perhaps, two doors, one above another as this gate seems to be a double-storied construction. Very likely, the north gate and also the east gate inter alia served the purpose of royal procession on occasions and the little stadium had a role in that too.
The other area in which the
Harappans of Dholavira excelled spectacularly pertained to
water harvesting with the aid of dams, drain, reservoirs and storm water management which eloquently speak of tremendous engineering skill of the builders.
The citadel has yielded an intricate
network of storm water drains, all connected to an arterial one and furnished with slopes, steps, cascades, manholes (air ducts / water relief ducts), paved flooring and capstones. The main drains were high enough for a tall man to walk through easily.
The rainwater collected through these drains was stored in yet another reservoir that was carved out in the western half of the area.
A brief video
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