Lothal: The National Heritage Complex

The Prime Minister recently inspected the construction of the National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) site in Gujarat's Lothal.

About National Maritime Heritage Complex

• The project began in March 2022 and would cost Rs 3,500 crore to complete.
• It will have various novel features, such as the Lothal mini-recreation, which will use immersive technology to reproduce Harappan buildings and lifestyles.
• It contains four theme parks: Memorial Park, Maritime and Navy Park, Climate Park, and Adventure and Amusement Park.
• It will serve as a learning and understanding center for India's maritime history.
• The NMHC is being built with the goal of highlighting India's unique maritime heritage while also assisting Lothal in becoming a world-class international tourism destination.

About Lothal:

• Lothal was one of the Indus Valley civilization's (IVC) southernmost settlements, located in the Bhl region of what is now Gujarat.
• The port city is thought to have been constructed around 2,200 BC.
• In ancient times, Lothal was a prosperous commerce town, with its trade of beads, stones, and decorations reaching West Asia and Africa.
• In Gujarati, Lothal (a mix of Loth and (s) thal) means "the mound of the dead."
• In addition, the name Mohenjo-daro (also part of the Indus Valley Civilisation, now in Pakistan) implies the same thing in Sindhi.
• Lothal had the world's oldest known port, which connected the city to a historic Sabarmati River channel on the trade route between Harappan settlements in Sindh and the Saurashtra peninsula.
• Discovery: After 1947, Indian archaeologists began looking for towns of the Harappan Civilisation in Gujarat's Saurashtra.
• Archaeologist SR Rao led the team that found a number of Harappan sites, notably the port city of Lothal, at the period.
• Between February 1955 and May 1960, excavations were carried out in Lothal.
• The National Institute of Oceanography in Goa uncovered marine microfossils, salt, and gypsum crystals at the site, showing that sea water originally filled the structure and that it was undoubtedly a dockyard.
• ASI eventually discovered a mound, a township, a marketplace, and the pier during subsequent excavations.
• The archaeological site museum is next to the excavated regions and houses one of India's most prominent collections of Indus-era artefacts.

What is Lothal's Heritage Value?

• Lothal was proposed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in April 2014, and the nomination is still pending on UNESCO's tentative list.
• The excavated site of Lothal was the Indus Valley Civilisation's lone port town.
• It can be likened to other Indus port cities in the region, such as Balakot (Pakistan), Khirasa (in Gujarat's Kutch), and Kuntasi (in Rajkot).

What are the Critical IVC Sites?

• Harappa in modern Pakistan - granaries with large platforms, lingam and yoni stone symbols, mother goddess figure, wheat and barley in wooden mortar, dice, copper scale, and mirror
• Mohenjo-daro in modern Pakistan - bronze dancing girl, bearded priest sculpture, great bath, great granary
• Dholavira in Gujarat has a massive water reservoir with a unique water harnessing system, a stadium, dams and embankments, and an inscription consisting of ten large-sized signs similar to an advertisement board.
• Ropar, Punjab: dog interred with human oval pit burials.
• Rajasthan's Balathal and Kalibangan - bangle factory, toy carts, camel bones, painted brickwork, fortress and lower town
• Haryana's Banawali - toy plough, barley grains, oval-shaped hamlet, and the only city with radial streets.