'Biggest old bricks' found near Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra, May 14: In a significant archaeological find, big-size bricks, dating back 2000 years to 4500 years, have been found at Brahamsar Teeratha, about 40 km from this holy city in Haryana.

The bricks, one of them measuring 70 by 47 by 10 cm, were discovered during the de-silting process of the Brahamsar Teeratha in Thana village, Dr Chander Pal Singh Tanwar of the Haryana Archaelogy Department said.

Claiming them to be the ''biggest old bricks'' ever found in India, Dr Tanwar said these might have been used for the Ghats of the Brahamsar tank which was spread in 115 acres of land even today.

Two other bricks, excavated during the de-silting, measured 32 by 21 by 10 cm and 28 by 22 by 7 cm.

These bricks, he said, were estimated to be as old as 2000 years to 4500 years.

He said the bricks belonged to the Kushan age and ranged upto the Rajput period going by their size. Such huge-size bricks had not been found in any part of the country so far.

These bricks might have been used in the construction of the Prachi Ghat of the Brahamsar Teeratha which must be having as big and wide ghats as were in Kashi (Varanasi), he added.

Dr Tanwar said if the Teeratha tank was properly excavated under the guidance of archaeologists of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) or the Haryana State Archaeology Department, there was a possibility of discovery of a big ghat on its northern bank. The Thana village is situated on a mound, measuring about 20 feet, with Brahamsar Teeratha on its Western-Southern side. The Teeratha has a temple belonging to later medieval period on the eastern side and has Ghats both for males and females.

At present, about a dozen tractors and other machinery are at work in the tank to desilt the sand and it was during this process that the villagers found the bricks.

Mr Rattan Singh Kataria, former Sarpanch of the Thana village, appealed to the Union Culture and Tourism minister Ambika Soni to provide special grant to the villagefor setting up a museum there and carrying out development work at the Teeratha for pilgrims and tourists from India and abroad.

He said that desilting work was being done after Kurukshetra Deputy Commissioner T K Sharma donated some money for the work, followed by announcement of a grant of Rs two lakh by Kurukshetra MP Navin Jindal.

UNI