Hyderabad: G Kishan Reddy reviews 2,500-year old artefacts excavated by ASI

Hyderabad : Union Minister for Culture and Tourism G Kishan Reddy said that the excavations carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in the Purana Kila area unearthed 2,500 years of artefacts belonging to various periods.

Addressing the media after a site visit and interacting with the ASI officials on Tuesday, he said the excavation site in Purana Kila is named as Indraprastha site. The excavations yielded the nine layers belonging to different periods from the times of Mauryan, Sunga, Kushan, Gupta, Rajput, Delhi Sultanate and Mughal rules.

Kishan Reddy said that it is the only place in the NCR region where excavated remains yielded results from the Mauryan to Mughal periods.

A Vikunta Vishnu stone idol, a Gaja Lakshmi terracotta idol, a stone idol of Vinajayaka, seals, coins, toys of humans and animals replicas made out of terracotta material, stone beds, needles made out of bones were among those found at the site, he added.

The excavation yields at the site show the presence of people living in the area for centuries in different periods for the past 2,500 years. Finding 136 coins, and 35 royal seals from such a small site shows the area as an important centre of abuzz with trade and business.

“All the artefacts found at the place would be preserved in a museum at the location and the visitors, students and researchers would be allowed to see and study them,” he added.

Kishan Reddy said that the ASI has been conducting excavations in the area since 1955, against 1969-73 headed by Padmasri ProfBB Lal. Later, the excavations were carried out between 2013-14 and 2017-18 under Dr Vasanth Kumar Swarnakar.

To further explore the area excavations were commenced at the hillock on the site in an area going down to a depth of 5.5 Km from January 2023. A request would be made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for planning a visit by the heads of the States meeting of G20 scheduled in September 2023, Kishan Reddy said.