I was out on 550 km drive to Somnath, a long drive after many years. While travelling by SH1 in Gujarat, around 12 noon, I suddenly saw a board indicating Lothal - 4Km, pointing to a narrow road alongside through farm land. I read and went ahead. Had read about Lothal and Dholavira as ancient sites dating back to Harappan times of Indus Valley Civilization. Google map was showing still about 7 hours to destination. Few things were going through my mind. Tough call to invest additional 30-40 minutes. Stopped after about a kilometer of driving, and discussed about it with my travel partner, my wife. Eventually decided that we should see this. Never seen a Harappan site, and in possibility we will not come back to this remote place just to see Lothal. Took a U turn, and hit the narrow single road through farm fields.
The archaeological site is located a bit inside from the main road. But a a proper road sign to guide visitors was missing. After driving for about 4KM, we found only a Thank You for visit board of Gujarat Tourism. At that point, Goggle was pointing to a near non-existent dirt track covered with kikkar bushes. No one was there to ask for direction. The site has to be there somewhere. As I waited, I saw another guy driving a KA registered car coming back from the opposite direction. He also got confused, and drove ahead only to be reminded by Google to come back. Both of us talked and decided to take the dirt track as Goggle was pointing dots to it. Few meters into the track, we found a sign board indicating Lothal, which is not visible from main road. After about 100 meters of further driving, we actually had reached the place with a board indicating as Lothal. The lone private security guard at gate told us not to get onto the walls or structures. No entry ticket. I found around 4 cars of visitors while I was there. It shows that only a fistful of people visits this place.
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| There is a roadsign few meters into the dirt track |
First thing that stuck me – how come some one (Prof S R Rao) found this site in such a barren and remote area, and excavated it between 1955-62. This Harappan town from Indus Valley Civilisation dated back to 2500-1900 BC. If you read the descriptions at site, the brick structures are actually of that time. Bricks, yes real bricks were used to build this Harappan town. The structures are so well planned and laid out that you will be forced to think if is it really an ancient site. It is an entire small-town setup complete with a water pond. I ended up giving more than planned 40 minutes visiting various parts of the site. The museum is closed permanently. The artefacts from the site are probably too precious to be kept at such a remote place. You can use the toilet there though. I found few more security guard and safai worker there.
It was an overwhelming experience being there. And
definitely, one of the most unforgettable chance visits.
