Did Lord Krishna really exist? Did he create a prosperous port city called Dwarka on Gujarat coast? Was it a hub of intense business and political activities during the Mahabharata days but submerged after Krishna’s death?
These questions are an integral part of an eternal mystery surrounding the Mahabharata. Many consider Mahabharata events as mythology due to lack of conclusive evidence, while a smaller number of researchers claim historical basis for some of those incidents.
The Archeological Survey of India has now teamed up with the Indian Navy to find out answers to these nagging questions.
With ASI support, deep sea navy divers have scoured the 2500 sq mt area on the sea floor in a site off Gujarat coast, which is close to the known site of the mythological city.
Wood samples
What sets apart this expedition from others is that for the first time, the archaeologists have recovered samples that can be dated. “For the first time, there are datable wood samples, which can help us find out the possible age of the site,” Dr Alok Tripathi, the superintending archaeologist in charge of the underwater archaeology wing at the ASI told Deccan Herald.
The samples may be sent for carbon-14 dating in the Institute of Physics, Bhubansewar and the Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleobotany in Lucknow and the dating process may take six to eight months.
So far the underwater explorations in Dwarka have not yielded any artefacts which can be dated scientifically to establish the period associated with Lord Krishna and the Mahabharata.
Though the discoverer of Dwarka, Dr S R Rao initially conjectured the antiquity of the period to be around 3200 years, later scientific studies did not support that conjecture. A large number of stone anchors, belonging to a period between 10th and 14th century AD, were found in the region.
“Similar stone anchors were discovered in Vijayadurg, Sindhudurg, Kerala and Goa. We believe that these anchors are more recent and came just before the iron anchors,” Dr K H Vora, a marine archaeologist at the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa told Deccan Herald. The The Archeological Survey of India–Navy team had initially surveyed a 200x200 mt area before zeroing on the exploration site which also yielded a few limestone building blocks.
“The exploration may help unravel the mystery surrounding the history,” said retired naval officer Rear Admiral K R Menon. Asked why no dating exercise was carried out though the site was discovered in 1983, Dr Vora explained that collection of datable samples from the sea was very difficult.
The navy divers were specially trained for the exploration, said Dr Tripathi, adding that various aspects of the exploration would be discussed in a professional seminar in the capital next week.
