ASI lists places where it will excavate this year

An ancient pathway in Vijayanagara’s Pan Supari Bazaar, the Church of St Augustine in Old Goa, and Gwalior’s Mansingh Palace are some of the sites where the Archaeological Survey of India will carry out excavations for the year 2022-23. The list also contains Delhi’s Purana Qila where the government hopes to find evidence of the Mahabharat.

In a tweet sent out late Tuesday night, the ASI said that its regional offices will excavate 31 sites in all, while 16 sites were approved for excavations by state governments. Apart from that, four sites will be excavated by colleges and educational institutions.

Among the sites that it will excavate are Delhi’s Purana Qila, Begumpura’s Bibi-ka-Maqbara, Haryana’s Rakhigarhi, Adichallanur in Thoothukudi, and a site along the Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat.

The state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Assam, and Tamil Nadu have been given permission to excavate 16 sites, including Keezhadi (TN), Banarsihankalan (UP) and Charaideo (Assam).

Among universities, sites that have been given permissions are a site along the Gomati river in Ayodhya and Mirzapur in Ghazipur (both in Ayodhya), a site in Kachchh (Gujarat) and an Itkhoni heritage site at the Mohane River Valley (Jharkhand).

The ASI’s excavations at Keezhadi, which had led to a tug of war between the state and the Centre earlier, has led to findings which has pushed the Sangam age to 800 BCE. Earlier this month, the ASI said that it will begin excavations at Delhi's Purana Qila to trace evidence of 'Mahabharat', looking for evidence of the Painted Grey Ware period (c.600–1000 BCE), which is widely known as the 'Mahabharat' period.