To
Shri Govind Mohan
Secretary
Union Ministry of Culture
Dear Shri Govind Mohan,
Kindly refer to my letter of June 19th, 2024 on asking the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to use ground-penetrating non-invasive techniques to investigate the entire 3,000 acre ancient 3rd Century BC Buddhist site in Thotlakonda near Visakhapatnam, so that the potential archaeological evidence that exists as per an independent survey conducted earlier may be saved for the posterity.
For your ready reference, I have extracted a copy of my letter below.
For some strange reason, despite the fact that ASI had been asked by a court to undertake an investigation of the Thotlakonda originally notified site, the ASI seems to be reluctant to go all out, use techniques such as satellite imagery, geo-physical investigation etc. in unearthing the evidence that exists all around Thotlakonda, though in 1978, the then State government chose to notify 3,000+ acres as a protected area under the relevant law. Yielding to real estate pressure, in July 2021, the AP government hurriedly denotified the major portion of that 3,000 acre site, which the civil society contested.
Compare this with the plight faced by the same ASI in Vadnagar, the home town of Prime Minister Modi, how “development” is erasing evidence of ancient history there, while ASI is watching helplessly, seeking the State administration to notify those areas under the relevant Central law that exists to preserve archaeological sites. Had ASI undertaken a satellite imagery study around Vadnagar well in advance, those potential sites, now facing destruction, could have been saved with least damage (
I have reproduced below an extract of the news report cited:
“Vadnagar, the hometown of PM Narendra Modi and considered to be one of the oldest existing towns of India with uninterrupted history of more than 2,300 years, recently saw digging of another kind.
JCBs cleared and flattened an archaeological mound outside Pithori Darwaja which is located on private land roughly 1 km away from the primary excavation site near Sharmishtha lake in Vadnagar.
The mound flattened on private land is believed to contain 2,000-year-old remains which were damaged in the process.
Senior officials of the excavation branch of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) working at the Vadnagar sites have approached the Mehsana district administration to stop the work and also safeguard similar areas from development.
Mehsana collector M Nagarajan told TOI that they have issued orders to similar effect.
….Satellite images reveal archaeological wealth beneath Bodh Gayas sacred site Discoveries from a recent geospatial study in Bodh Gaya uncover hidden archaeological treasures beneath the Mahabodhi temple complex. The study, in collaboration with Cardiff University, aims to define the boundaries of the complex based on new insights.”
In the case of Thotlakonda near Visakhapatnam where a 3,000 acre site was originally notified by the State government in 1978 for good reasons and, more recently, in 2021, the government denotified the major portion of it, yielding to real estate developers’ pressure. On the other hand, it is the civil society, anxious to get the entire 3,000 acre site protected along with the potential archaeological evidence that exists that sought judicial intervention, ASI, at the instance of the court, has been asked to investigate the site but, perhaps in its hurry to complete the study on time, it has chosen not to adopt advanced ground-penetrating techniques to unearth evidence that some researchers found a decade ago.
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The same ASI is now feeling helpless seeing the precious Vadnar Archaeological evidence being erased by JCBs, seeking action from the local administration to stop the process of destruction. Such invaluable archaeological heritage sites, instead of being safely handed over to the posterity, are being subject to damage, due to inaction on the part of the Central and State governments and regulatory agencies. Had ASI taken advance action in and around Vadnagar by adopting advanced scientific techniques to explore, it would have unearthed several precious micro-sites and taken action to save them in time! ‘May I appeal to your Ministry and ASI to open eyes to the reality of real estate development erasing history and, as in the case of Bodh Gaya, use every non-invasive, ground-penetrating technique available to ASI today to unearth precious heritage archaeological evidence and take all steps to protect it from damage? As I had earlier mentioned, professional agencies in India such as National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) have the necessary expertise that could be used by ASI.
I hope your Ministry and ASI will draw lessons from what is happening in Vadnagar and avoid a similar situation in Thotlakonda!
Regards,
Yours sincerely,
E A S sarma
Visakhapatnam
Former Secretary to the Government of India
20th July 2024
Copy of my letter of 19th, June, 2024 to ask ASI to undertake an investigation using ground-penetrating techniques of the archaeological evidence in the 3,000 acre originally notified “protected site” of the 3rd Century Buddhist site in Thotlakonda near Visakhapatnam
E A S Sarma
Former Secretary to the Government of India
To
Shri Govind Mohan
Secretary
Union Ministry of Culture
Dear Shri Govind Mohan,
The Thotlakonda Buddhist archaeological site (3rd Century BC), located on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam city, was discovered in mid-seventies and notified by the AP government in 1978 vide G O .Rt. No.627, Education(L) Department, dated 2nd May 1978. The archaeologists of the State Government, working with meagre budgetary resources at that time, could only excavate a limited portion of the site on the top of the hill, leaving around 3,000 acres of the remaining notified area for future exploration.
Meanwhile, a research scholar, Lars Fogelin, from the University of Michigan, carried out a systematic surface survey of the entire notified stretch of Thotlakonda, under the supervision of the State Archaeology Dept around 2000-2003 and discovered for the first time 134 archaeological sites, containing 328 individualarchaeological features duly identified, including 231 cairns, 33 walls, one stupa, four columns, and nine water cisterns and two reservoirs, hitherto undocumented. Lars Fogelin apprised the State Archaeology department of his findings, handed over the artefacts to them, before finalising his PhD thesis, which he later published in the form of a book. His work showed that the entire extent of the Thotlakonda notified area of more than 3,000 acres could contain valuable archaeological evidence, the exploration of which could throw light on not only on Thotlakonda but also on the Bavikonda site adjacent to it. In my view, Fogelin’s work has enormous value in carrying out further excavation work in the notified area.
Meanwhile, unfortunately, with real estate price of lands in the neighbourhood shooting up, there was pressure on the State decision-makers to denotify the entire notified extent, leaving only a small extent of around 120 acres on the hill top of Thotlakonda, which in effect would lead to a conscious erasure of potential archaeological evidence all around Thotlakonda. As a result, the State government hurriedly and somewhat secretively issued GORt No 131 on 31-7-2021, making a pretense of following the procedure under
Sections 4 and 36 of the AP Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1960.
Ever since the initial moves in the State Government, I have raised objections again and again, cautioning the government to conserve the site fully, adopt more advanced techniques of exploration in order to make sure that such an invaluable stretch of archaeological evidence could be preserved as heritage for posterity.
For your ready reference, I have enclosed here extracts of the long trail of correspondence I have had with the State Government, your predecessors in the Ministry, the DG of ASI and others.
I understand that some senior experts from the ASI recently visited the Thotlakonda site and conducted a visual survey. What surprised me was that the ASI team had not carried out the survey in the presence of all those who were familiar with and had commitment for the archaeological value of the site and who could have provided useful inputs to them, whereas it appears that it was the State government’s officials, who have a clear conflict of interest, accompanied the team and assisted it. I am not sure whether the officials apprised the ASI team of the artefacts handed over to them by Lars Fogelin and the details of his findings.
From the point of view of interpreting history of the Thotlakonda-Bavikonda stretch and its surrounding Buddhist sites, it is of paramount importance for your Ministry, the ASI and the State Archaeology Department to mobilise every advanced exploration technique at our disposal to be able to uncover the archaeological treasures hidden there underground. Not doing it would imply doing injustice to our heritage and depriving the future generations of its value.
I have just come across an excellent article, “The Expanse of Archaeological Remains at Nalanda:A Study Using Remote Sensing and GIS” authored by M. B. Rajani of National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore, India, which revealed, through an evaluation of satellite imagery, that the extent of the archaeological evidence at Nalanda went far beyond the boundaries demarcated by the ASI. In my view, a study of that kind is urgently called for the Thotlakonda site, well in time, to prevent the predatory State authorities from denotifying the site and diverting potential archaeological stretches for real estate development.
May I appeal to you, in the interest of protecting the valuable archaeological evidence around the Thotlakonda site, to request NIAS to undertake a study on lines similar to the one done for Nalanda?
I hope such a study can be taken up on a war footing, in view of the haste in which the State authorities seem to be moving.
Regards,
yours sincerely,
E A S sarma
Visakhapatnam
19th June 2024
