Patriotic Passions - Beating the Retreat  Border Ceremony

       After the visit to Jallianwala Bagh, with patriotic feelings aroused, we set off for the Attari border to witness the lowering of the flags ceremony known as Beating the Retreat Border Ceremony. (This is the usual itinerary of all tourists to Amritsar).

       We reached Attari border well in time. There was not much of a crowd. We quickly alighted from our cab and were immediately surrounded by young men who offered to paint the tri-colour on us. They would not take a ‘No, thanks’ from us. ‘Maaji, border aake, tiranga nahi lagyenge?’ The incredulity in their voice at such unheard of attitude, made us feel most unpatriotic. We needed little cajoling to give in to them and get the tiranga painted on our faces and hands. After collecting their fees they thanked us and said,” Hum to aap tourist log se hi kamma sakthe hai, Pakistaniyon se tho nahi.” Such kind of dialogue right from the parking lot, adds to the patriotic passions being aroused among the tourists.

       We then went and stood in line to enter through the gate to walk to the border (It is about 1 km away from the gate). Men and women were asked to form separate lines. Being an army area, the jawans manning the gates, were very particular that we form straight lines. If anyone, moved even the teeniest bit out of line, immediately we would hear the order ‘Line me khade ho jaao’ barked out. One man, in great patriotic fervor, had brought with him a huge flag, on a quite a long pole. It must have been pretty heavy, because he kept lowering it and resting it on the ground, causing the flag to touch the ground. Every time this happened, the command  ‘Flag ooncha karo, jameen ko math lagana’ was heard. We proceeded to the border with a series of security checks. We were not allowed to take any bag, not even a handbag, in. We could take  only that which we could carry in our hands. Not realizing this, I had carried my camera, mobile and wallet in a small cloth batua. Since I could not take in the cloth bag, Ushakka folded it and put it in the pocket of her jacket. I gave my wallet to Mohan to put in his jacket pocket. At every check point, he was asked why he had two wallets and he had to repeat the explanation every time. Slowly, we moved forward through three barriers with their security checks and reached the exact point of Indo-Pak border.

       The ceremony takes place at the border on the Grand Trunk Road. Galleries had been constructed on either side of the road. There were similar galleries on the Pakistan side too. There is just an ordinary wall with three iron gates to demarcate the two nations. One gate is on the Indian border, one on the Pakistani border and one sliding gate in between the two borders, on no man’s land. The flags of both the nations were flying in this area. 

Gate opened for the bus  

 The seating area was separated into VIP area (comfortable chairs), VIP gallery, and gallery for the general public. We went and sat down in the general public area. As we watched, the place started filling up. And very soon there were at least two –three thousand spectators, including international tourists. We could see a huge crowd, though not as many as on the Indian side, across the border too.  While we were waiting, an officer came round, saw us and told one of the soldiers to take us to the VIP gallery. So we got good seats and could view the entire ceremony from close up. (Advantages of being senior citizens)

       At about 3.00pm, we noticed quite a number of people, men and women, accompanied by porters with baggage, walking towards the gates. The gates opened, and they crossed over to Pakistan and similarly, people from the other side walked into India.  Most of the people were aged, visiting their relatives on either side of the border. Among them was a young couple with a baby walking into India. May be they were visiting the family members who had stayed behind in India. We also saw the Sada-e-Sarhad (passenger bus service)  going from Delhi to Lahore.

    At about 5.00pm, the ceremony began. This ceremony of jointly lowering of the flags by the Border Security Force (India) and the Pakistan Rangers takes place every evening at sunset. It has been followed since 1959.. It is symbolic of the two countries rivalry, as well as friendship and cooperation.

      The ceremony on either side starts with a prayer over the public address system (kept at a very high volume). Then patriotic songs from films are played. There is an MC on either side egging on the spectators to shout out patriotic slogans. The MC mimes that the shouts are not loud enough and that the Pakistanis are louder than us. After a while, the MC called upon young women to come forward and stand in a line. He had two flags with him He handed them to two of the women and asked them to run up to the border and back with the flags. We were so caught up in this passionate display of patriotism that we too stepped forward and ran with the national flag and were heartily cheered by the crowd

 

      The actual ceremony starts just before sunset, with quite an aggressive parade by soldiers from both the sides. The drill is characterized by complicated and brisk dance like exercises which have been described as ‘colourful’. One infantry man stands at attention on each side of the gate. As the sun sets, the iron gates at the border are opened and the flags of both the nations are lowered simultaneously in perfect coordination. The flags are folded and the ceremony ends with a retreat that includes a brisk handshake between soldiers from either side, followed by the closing of the gates.

      Slowly we walked back to the car park after this rousing ceremony. The image that stayed in my mind was not that of the parade but of people, especially the young couple with an infant, crossing the border. The whole exercise brought out the truth of Javed Akthar’s lyric

       Panchi, nadiya, pawan ke jonkhe, koi sarhad na inko rokthe,

       Sarhad insaano ke liye, socho tumne aur maine kya paya insaan hoke.  

        

  Patriotic Passions - Jallianwala Bagh

       Jallianwala Bagh - -what images this name invokes in us! We have all read and studied about the massacre of the innocent men, women and children who had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh to take part in the Baisakhi festivities. Having studied and having taught, having answered questions and having set questions, having seen movies on this episode of our freedom struggle and on the episodes this led to, it was with awe that I entered the gates to this hallowed ground.

       Jallianwala Bagh is just a few meters away from the Golden Temple.  After paying our respects at Harmandir Sahib, we walked the short distance to this martyrs’ memorial. This place does not look like it has changed much in the last 100 years. The approach to the garden is still through a narrow road, lined with shops on either side. The entrance is a small narrow gate in the wall. The bagh is enclosed on all four sides. The walls of buildings on three sides of the garden form parts of the compound wall. There is a high compound wall where no buildings are present. It is completely enclosed, the only point of entry and exit being the gate in the front or jumping over the high walls. Today, what was just a vacant plot of land with a few trees and plants going under the grand name of Jallianwala Bagh, has been turned into a true garden, with lush green lawns and flowering plants.

       The place of death and horror, a place where the walls once, a century ago, reverberated with sound of gun fire and  echoed with the screams of the wounded and the dying is today an oasis of peace and quiet. The trees which stood as mute witnesses to this horror continue to stand giving shade to the thousands of tourists who come to pay homage to the martyrs.

       Though the place is full of tourists, it is not noisy. The history of this ground, consecrated by the blood of hundreds weaves it spell on all. The people speak in hushed tones and there is a general air of awe and reverence. The ‘amar jyothi’, burning in memory of the people who lost their lives here, placed exactly opposite the spot from where Gen Dyer’s men opened fire, sets the tone for the mood of homage. The tree on which the men climbed to try and jump over the high wall, the well into which men, women and children jumped into, to escape the bullets, the brick wall with bullet holes in it, all bear testimony to the heartless horror that had been unleashed on a people whose only fault was that they wanted to welcome the new year with joy and gaiety.

       A walk around the bagh and through the small museum ignites in us feelings of sadness along with a strong surge of patriotism and pride.

       The Jallianwala Bagh is one of the saddest and most horrific events of our freedom struggle, one that will never fade from our national memory. The names of the thousands who died may be forgotten, but their tragedy never!

The well

Wall with bullet marks

Memorial in Jallianwala Bagh

     

Kangra Valley – Dharamshala

      

        Dharamshala is a beautiful town nestling in the shadow of the majestic Dhauladhar mountain range. This scenic town is surrounded by hills covered with pine, deodhar, Himalayan oak and rhododendron. As the name suggests this town is truly a ‘spiritual sanctuary’.

            Though the literary meaning of the word ‘dharam + shala’ is spiritual sanctuary, in common parlance, it means a rest house for pilgrims.  Long, long ago, the Katoch rulers of this region had built a rest house for the pilgrims who came to visit Hanuman Tibba and the Bhagsunath temple. After the British annexed Kangra, they stationed a garrison in the Kangra fort.  Later, the British raised a native regiment and needed a camp to house them. (Obviously the native regiment could not be stationed at Kangra Fort along with the all white regiment.).  Looking around, they came upon this stretch of land which had nothing but an old Hindu rest house.  What could be better than this? So of course they took it over and constructed barracks for the ‘native soldiers’, and adopted the name ‘Dharamshala’.

       The British civilians attached to the army as well as the officers, were attracted by the  beauty of this region – the snow capped mountains, the many streams and the waterfalls, the lakes and the woods and most of all the salubrious climate. All this reminded them of ‘home’ and they started constructing homes for themselves in this area. Thus came into being places like Forsyth Ganj and MacLeod Ganj. These small towns which were bustling towns during the British Raj, fell into obscurity after independence until 1959 when events in Tibet put Dharamshala firmly on the world map.

       In 1959, when China annexed Tibet, the 14^th Dalai Lama escaped to India and sought asylum. The then Prime Minister of India, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru gave him land in Dharamshala. The Dalai Lama with his followers soon settled here and Dharamshala did indeed become a political as well as a spiritual sanctuary for the Tibetans. They built monasteries and temples and religious schools to replace the ones left behind and lost to them forever. They even set up their own government in exile and have elections once in every five years. (The election for the next parliament and Prime Minister in exile is due next month.)

Naadi - view from our hotel

          We stayed at Naadi a small village a short distance from Dharamshala.  The first evening at Dharamshala, we went to the Kotwali Market at MacLeod Ganj. This is a busy shopping area, with narrow, roads with shops on either sides. Also there are a number of eatries- all kinds, Indian, Italian, Tibetan, Domino’s Cafe Coffee Day, Pastry shops as well as roadside vendors selling momos and fried fish and meat tikkas. In the midst of this bustling market area was an island of peace and quiet – a Stupa a lovely red and gold building. The red prayer wheels were set in the wall right on the street, and there were steps leading up to the shrine. The shrine was on the second floor. We climbed up the narrow stairs and reached a hall on the first floor. The walls were painted brightly with scenes from the Buddhist epics. We then went up to the shrine which had an idol of a serene Buddha.  We noticed that many bowls of water (ordinary drinking water) had been placed in front of the idol as offering. Other than water, the Buddha had been offered foodstuff like McVities Digestive Biscuits, Real Fruit Juice, Cream Biscuits etc. All this was kept on display in a glass case. (We later noticed this in all the temples we visited.) After this, we wandered down the street, went into various shops and generally spent the evening getting a feel of the place. The place was very clean and the people very friendly.

          The next day, we first visited Temple of Gyuto Tantric University. This monastery is at Sidbari.  It is the seat of the Karmapa (meaning ‘the embodiment of all the activities of all the buddhas’) and so also known as the Karmapa Temple.  This red and gold temple with the Dhauladhar Mountains rising behind it and the clear blue sky above made a very striking picture.  

        The temple is a huge well-lit hall, reached after climbing a number of steps. The central idol was that of Shakyamuni Buddha in a sitting posture.  There was a picture of the Dalai Lama in front of this idol. Behind the central idol, were various idols of their Gurus, of the Kalachakra or Mahakal deity and other figures from the Buddhist lore.  Here too were a number of water filled bowls kept as offering in front of each deity. I was curious as to the significance of this. A Tibetan couple came in to offer prayers. So I approached them and asked about the water bowls. He explained that water symbolized purity, the act of giving freely. Water was freely available, so all rich or poor could afford to offer water to the Lord. Also, when a devotee offered water, he could do so without thinking of the cost involved and not feel proud of the fact that he had offered something expensive, as everyone’s offering was the same; there was no place for ego when water was offered; yet another reason was that as, water was the most important thing for life, one offered what was important. I thought that this was a very beautiful concept, one which stressed on the equality of all before God.

     Our next stop was the Norbulingka Institute. This was set up to preserve the Tibetan language, culture and traditional literary and art forms. It is named after the Dalai Lama’s summer palace in Lhasa. Norbulingka means ‘The Jeweled Park’ and this institute is set in a gracefully landscaped, Japanese inspired garden. The ground plan is based on the proportions of Avalokiteshwara, the God of Compassion, with the temple at the head.

       The Institute has workshops and trains young Tibetans in statue making, Thangka painting, wood carving, craft etc.  The various art objects made by the apprentices in these workshops are sold at the Norbulingka Store for the benefit of the refugees.

      The Losel Toy Museum has diorama displays of traditional Tibetan scenes – miniature dolls dressed in traditional costumes.

       The heart of the Institute is the ‘Seat of Happiness Temple’. It has murals of Buddha and scenes from the life of the 14^th Dalai Lama. In the main hall is ahuge, gilded Buddha Sakyamuni statue.

     The whole complex, set in the peaceful garden, is a place of beauty and serenity.

     

  After a tasty lunch at the Tibetan Kitchen in McLeod Ganj, we went to see the most important place, the place which attracts thousands of tourists (specially international) to Dharamshala - Tsuglag Khang Temple or the Dalai Lama’s Temple in the Namgyal Monastery.

       The Namgyal Monastery is the Dalai Lama’s personal monastery.  This complex houses the Tibet Museum, The School of Buddhist studies, where young monks master the Buddhists Sutra and Tantra, the Dalai Lama’s residence and of course the the Dalai Lama’s Temple.

Mural-Memorial for Tibetan Martyrs

 

       As we entered the complex, we noticed that it was very crowded. We first visited the museum.  On display here are hundreds of photographs, texts and posters on all matters related to Tibetan history and culture, and to the occupation of Tibet by China. After a tour of the museum, we went up to the temple and were taken aback seeing the long queue waiting to enter the shrine. The temple was packed with monks and lay worshippers. We were told that the crowd was because it was the last day of the Tibetan New Year celebrations. If we visited the temple the next day, there would be no crowds. So we went away deciding to come the next morning before leaving for Amritsar. In the evening we went to watch the sunset from the sunset point at Nadi.  Unfortunately, it was cloudy so we did not get to see the spectacular sunset that attracts the tourists.

       The next morning we again went to the Dalai Lama’s Temple. There were only monks praying and meditating, no lay devotees. We peacefully went round the temple and then entered it. The central idol is that of the Sakyamuni (gilded) in a sitting posture with a look of utter peace and a serene smile.  To the right of this idol are two other images. One is the silver statue of Avalokiteshwara-Deity of Compassion- with eleven faces and a thousand hands. The other is that of Padmasambhava- Guru Rimpoche. Both these images are seated facing the direction of Tibet. In cupboards behind the altar are kept ancient manuscripts of the Buddhists Sutras that the Dalai Lama and the monks smuggled out with them when they fled Tibet. The columns in the temple have beautiful Thangka paintings.  There were hundreds of monks reading their prayer books. The single minded devotion of the monks, the tranquil ambience and the imposing figures of the Buddha all fascinate and make a tremendous impression on the tourist even if one is not particularly inclined towards this religion.

            Adjoining this temple is the Kalachakra temple. This too has an image of the Buddha sitting in a meditating posture. The central image is that of Kalachakra. The walls have fresco decorations of Tibetan deities. The pillars have traditional Thangka paintings.

       Dharamshala is a beautiful, clean, peaceful place. The people are warm and friendly, and proud of their land. We were told that during the tourist season, the locals – adults and children - go around the tourist spots picking up the litter and cleaning the areas. There is not much of pollution, though we were told that it had not snowed in Nadi for the past seven years. (Nadi village, being in the higher reaches, used to experience light snowfall and sleet in winter.) The towering mountains, the fresh green woods, the friendly people, the calm monks, all add to the charm of Dharamshala and make the tourist reluctant to leave this serenely spiritual place.

       

Kangra Valley- Kangra Fort

        Kangra Valley is a beautiful, valley in the lower Himalayas. Geographically this lovely valley lies in Punjab but after the reorganization of states it became a part of Himachal Pradesh.

         This region is commonly known as ‘Dev Bhoomi’ as it is believed that it is the abode of gods.  The fertile valley has been inhabited from Pre-Aryan times. In fact there is evidence that there have been humans here from the Paleolithic period. There has been mention of this region in the Rig-Veda, the Puranas and the Mahabharata.  According to legends, King Susharama Chandra, who fought on the side of the Kauravas, is said to be the founder of this dynasty.  The kingdom of Kangra was then known as Trigata and the town known as Bhim Kot. (Bhima, the second Pandava, is supposed to have founded this town during the period of their exile.) Later, between the seventh and fourth centuries B.C. this town was called Nagar Kot. Throughout history, Kangra has been known for its wealth and riches and attracted invasions from various outsiders.

       Our first stop in Kangra, was the picturesque Kangra Fort. This fort is situated atop a hill in the confluence of Banganga and the Patalganga (also knowm as Majhi).The fort was built by the founder (historical, not legendary) of the Katoch dynasty, Raja Bhuma Chand.

        The Katoch dynasty is one of the oldest Rajput dynasties and the Kangra Fort is one of the oldest forts in India and the oldest fort in the Himalayas. The history of the fort tells us that it attracted numerous rulers that desired to control it, as it was believed ‘He who holds Kangra Fort, rules over Kangra.’

                                                                                                   The fort, spread over a vast 

stretch of land is well protected from enemy attacks. It has not just high ramparts and walls but the steep cliff sides also act as barriers to invaders.  The steep cliff was not natural, it was man made.  Labourers were let down the side of the hill and had to clear the vegetation and chisel away the rock so that the steep cliff would become a barrier. But in spite of all these precautions, the fort was attacked many times because of the wealth it contained.

                                                    Before we entered the fort, we took audio guides. The history of the fort and various interesting anecdotes were made more interesting by the excellent manner in which Roshan Seth narrated them.

       We began the tour of the fort at the main gate known as the Ranjit Singh Darwaza. A path from this gate leads the visitor through the Ahini and the Amiri Darwazas to the Jehangiri Darwaza. This darwaza and the Amiri Darwaza were built by the Mughal governor of the fort after Jehangir defeated the Katoch ruler. (Akbar, having heard of the riches of Kangra had launched expeditions into the hills. The Katoch ruler was defeated. But as Kangra was too far from Delhi, the Katoch rulers took control of it again. Under the leadership of Shah Jehan, the Mughals again attacked Kangra. Twice, the imperial forces were repelled, but finally the fort of Kangra was starved into surrender. The Katochs came back to power only with the decline of the Mughals.) From the Jehangiri Darwaza, a path takes the visitor to the next gateway, the Andehri Darwaza. From here the path divides into two- the one on the right leads to an arch and a broken down building. This was a mosque from the Jahangir era, later converted into an arsenal by the Katoch rulers.  Close by is a stone  well. The women of the palace are said to have thrown themselves into this to avoid being captured by the victorious invaders.

             The path to the left, leads the

 visitor to the Darshini Darwaza, 

one of the oldest structures in the fort.

 This opens into a spacious courtyard around which were built many chambers.  The Lakshmi Narayan temple and the Sitlamata temple once stood grandly, overlooking this courtyard. The remains of these temples have exquisite carvings. The roof is made of interlocking slabs (an innovation in that period). Strewn around are a number of carved bases and capitals, over which we had to step to reach the temples. To the north of these temples is the Ambica  Devi temple, still used for worship.  Nearby are two small Jain shrines. One of them has a seated image of Mahavira, with an inscription dating it to 1523 A.D. Behind the Ambica Devi temple are ruins of buildings and some wells (covered with grill). The gold and jewllery belonging to the temples was supposed to be hidden in these wells. Mohammed of Gazni, heard of this wealth and ransacked the fort. He took away with him tonnes of diamonds and pearls, lakhs of gold coins and utensils made of gold and silver.

          

 

Between the Ambica Devi temple and the Sitlamata Temple, there is a flight of steps that leads one to the Seesh Mahal. Though the name invokes a glittering palace, all that one can see are blocks of stones and rubble, and a big terrace on the edge of which stands a polygonal watch tower. This terrace provides a stunning view of the surroundings- the snow capped Dhauladhar Mountains, the white sheep grazing on the green meadows down below and far below the clear blue Banaganga flowing as it has been flowing even before the fort came into existence.

       The Katoch rulers had to surrender the fort to Maharaja Ranjit Singh.  Kangra then became a part of his empire. The British took it away from the successors of Ranjit Singh. It became a British garrison till the devastating earthquake of 1905. This earthquake destroyed the entire fort- the temples, the Seesh Mahal, the chambers and other buildings. (Local tales have it that the earthquake struck and destroyed the fort as the king had built his palace on a higher level than the temple. Remember the fort was built centuries ago and the earthquake occurred in 1905, but that’s superstition for you.) The British abandoned the fort. Later, the ruins were handed back to the surviving Katoch descendant who,  after independence, merged Kangra kingdom with the Indian Union. Today, the Kangra fort is the property of the Archeological Survey of India.

   

Part 4 Dholbaha

The wheel of Time turns,

Slowly but surely it turns.

Raising cities on its upturn,

Reducing them to dust on its downturn.

       Dhobaha stands as a mute testimony to this

.

       When Ushaakka and I were planning our Punjab trip, we came across Dhobaha on the official Punjab Tourism site.  We read that excavations in Hoshiarpur district had thrown up evidences that the region had been inhabited from the Paleolithic period. Also there was evidence ( artifacts) of settlement(s) during the Indus Valley Civilization period and 1000 year old artifacts of  Gandhara Art had been found.  ‘Among the sites, most well known is Dholbaha.  Evidence has been found of a flourishing temple town that existed between 700-1200 A. D.’. This fired my imagination and Ushaakka soon caught my enthusiasm.

       ‘The Indus Valley Civilization’ was the first chapter in Class 9 history, I had taught for ages. To make the topic more interesting, I had shown my students various short documentaries about the excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Memories of my visit to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt further strengthened my imagination. I pictured Dholbaha to be a place where people (under the supervision of archeologists) were busy digging. There would be short exposed walls made of sun dried bricks which were the foundations of the houses that once stood there, the foundation of the temple around which the town had grown- in fact there was no end to my imagination. (I think I was influenced by movies about British/American archeologists going on excavating expeditions to Egypt or South America.)

       Vaman bhavaji contacted Jeet Travels (a travel agent) in Amritsar, gave a list of places we’d like to visit in Punjab and asked him to draw up an itinerary for us. So just imagine our disappointment when he replied that he had not heard of Dhobaha, in fact nobody seemed aware of the place.  Vamabhavaji wrote back saying that we had read about it on the Punjab Tourism site and we were very keen on going there. When we got our final itinerary, we were happy to note that Dholbaha was included.

      At Chandigarh, we discussed the itinerary with Mr Devi Singh, our driver. He said that he’d never heard of that place, he had not taken any tourist there, but “Aapko jaana hai tho le jaayenge. Lekin poochna padega.”

       The first thing we did after checking in at Hoshiarpur was ask the manger of our hotel about Dhobaha. He, though living in Hoshiarpur, had no clue as to what we were talking about. Vamanbhavaji showed him pictures from the tourism site on his mobile, but still we drew a blank.  As is common, when we were talking, others came over to ask questions and  give their view. One of them said that there was a person from Dholbaha working in the hotel. We were most excited on hearing this. The manager told us to go to our rooms, freshen up and by then he’d send for the Dholbaha man (as he was being referred to) and we could talk to him.

      The Dholbaha man was also quite excited that we wanted to visit his town He questioned us to how we had heard about it. He then told us that yes, that there were some ’toota phoota’ things kept there and it was said that they were ‘prachin kaal ke’. He gave us the directions to reach Dhobaha and he spoke to Devi Singh too.

    We (including Devi Singh) set off in great excitement. At last we had met someone who not only knew about this place but actually lived there.  I was visualizing excavation pits and lots of ancient and pre-historic artifacts.  

      After driving for a long time and travelling about 70 km, (wondering if we were on the wrong road at times) we finally reached Dholbaha and  Devi Singh stopped the car near an old, rusted iron gate.  We got out of the car and reality struck and I was brought down to earth – there were no temple ruins, no excavation pits.  On asking, Devi Singh told us that this was exactly the place as directed by the Dholbaha man. We entered through the gate and walked up a dusty, mud path to a flight of stone steps leading up to a stone buiding.  We went up the steps to the building. Devi Singh too accompanied us.  “Mai bhi dekhoo ye kya hai  jisse dekhne ke liye aap itna pooch-taaj karke aaye hai.” 

      The building (if it could be 

called as such) also appeared to be ‘toota-phoota’. It was a big room with just the walls- no ceiling, no flooring, no windows or doors. There was a big banyan tree growing in the centre of the hall. At the entrance to the building was a notice stating that the building and all things in it belonged to the Punjab State Government and a fine of Rs 5000/- would be levied if anything was desecrated. There was not a soul in sight, though we saw a small shed like room with locked doors and a dog outside it.

       We entered the hall and were astounded by what we saw. Lying around (actually kept neatly in rows) were beautiful artifacts – pieces of lintel carved with flower creepers, panels carved with elephants, dancing girls, birds etc. small figurines of women, small panels depicting a yogi sitting in the lotus position with a snake round his neck another similar one, with no snake but a trishul- obviously Shiva, and attractively carved bases and capitals of pillars.  As we wandered around admiring and taking pictures, a man suddenly appeared. He introduced himself as the curator of the museum. He was extremely surprised to see us. He said that no tourist ever comes there and wondered how we had heard about this place. We told him the whole story and he was impressed by the keen interest we had shown. He said that it saddened him that very few people today had any interest in our history and heritage. He took us around and when asked about the excavations told us that it had been stopped. Some ashram claimed that the site of the excavation belonged to them and had sued the archaeology department. Now the matter was under litigation and the court had passed a stay order. He pointed to a  small fenced in area behind the museum (construction stopped due to the stay order) and said that, that was the excavated temple and we could visit it.  He requested us not to post the pictures of the artifacts on any social networking site, the reason being lack of security at the museum and the pieces were all quite small. Anyone could easily walk off with one or two. (He was not aware that the Tourism Department had posted attractive pictures of these very same artifacts on their site.)

   

     He then took us to the shed-room, and unlocked the door. That was real treasure house. It had a few, but extremely lovely pieces. These he kept under lock and key as they were the best of the finds and very valuable.  One was the face of a woman, which I immediately recognized as belonging to the Gandhara School (teaching features of the various schools of art and setting questions on it stood in good stead). The curator confirmed my guess and told us that the face of the woman, carved in white granite, was found in a farmer’s house. Pieces were turning up while ploughing the land. He then narrated the history of Dholabaha. There had been settlements in the region from the Paleolithic age as the land was fertile and had plenty of water.  Long back, there was a mighty flood which washed away the town. The survivors (if any) did not return and slowly over centuries Dholbaha got covered with the silt brought down by the rivers and got converted into a flood plain.  The land regained its fertility. Hundreds of years later, people once again settled here and the present town of Dholbaha came into being.  Recently, the Dhobaha dam has been constructed near here for irrigation purposes. The reservoir, spread over acres of land has covered and drowned land which was rich in history. So those sites of civilization are lost to us forever. 

     We thanked him for everything and he thanked us for visiting Dholbaha. We were glad that we had taken the trouble to question so many people about Dholbaha. It was worth the trip. It made us proud to think of the riches we have literally lying around and sad that so few people including our government is interested in preserving them. The artifacts are left in the open to the vagaries of nature; there is no write up about the history or culture and heritage of this lost settlement. Shockingly, there is no security for these invaluable pieces and so much is spouted about preserving our culture and heritage and tradition, and not letting it be tainted by western influences!

       Dholbaha, once a flourishing temple town, is today a small, forgotten hamlet known only to a few historians and archaeologists.  If the litigation continues, it might soon be forgotten by historians and history too.