IIT team finds brick structures below ground at Haryana’s Mauryan-era village

An investigation by a team of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, using the ground penetrating radar (GPR) has indicated at the existence of ancient structures at Topra Kalan village in Yamunanagar district.

The team of the Department of Earth Sciences, including Professor Javed N Malik, Mitthu Dhali and Monika Kumaiya, surveyed the area in January and submitted the report to the Director of Archaeology and Museums, Haryana, recently.

Professor Malik said GPR surveys were conducted at three sites, revealing brick structures beneath the ground close to the village pond. Some cross-section structures were also observed 5 metre below the surface, pointing to the possibility of ancient structures.

“Inclined georadar reflections observed from the profiles collected around the village temple suggests that it may be a dome-shaped structure,” said Professor Malik.

The village has been of archaeological interest for researchers due to its link to the Mauryan Empire. Alexander Cunnigham, the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India, had surveyed Topra Kalan in the 19th century, said Sidhartha Gauri, co-convener of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, Yamunanagar.

“He had certified the Ashoka pillar that was taken from here and installed in Delhi in the 14th century. Besides, two large square structures made of baked bricks had been documented here. The bricks of 2000-year-old stupas at the village still bear hand impressions,” said Gauri.

The Ashoka pillar — also called the “pillar of gold” because of its golden glaze — was transported from the village to Kotla in Delhi by Firoz Shah Tughlaq.

Gauri said the state Tourism Department had undertaken several initiatives since 2019 to develop a 27-acre Ashoka Edicts Park here. “The park has a 30-foot iron Ashoka Chakra replica, the tallest in India,” said Gauri, the brainchild behind the park.

The village was earlier known as Nigambodh. “This is the only place in Haryana to have been named after Buddha. There were four big stupas here, making it one of the largest and most important Buddhist sites in the state and country,” Gauri added.

Haryana Tribune