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sarson-ke-khet-sanghol

Sanghol- Glimpses of Rural Life and Buddhist Heritage

Posted on February 11, 2016

Even though I went to present a paper at an academic seminar at Sanghol in Punjab but I managed to catch the glimpses of its rural life and Buddhist Heritage too. The place is also known as Ucha Pind.

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A Painting on the Walls of Cordia College, Sanghol

The seminar was hosted at Cordia Group of Institutions, Sanghol.Β On the first day after the presentations were over we went to the local lambardar’s fields. He was a sturdy man in Ray Ban glasses. They offered sweet tea to us.

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Sarson Ke Khet and Selfie!

It was sunset time, the perfect time to be in the sarson ke khet! Even I could not resist a selfie!

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The Beautiful Fields of Sanghol in Punjab

There was no time to walk or I would have loved to go and explore! Still, it was a joy to be watching the sunset in the lush green fields.

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The Joy of Eating Sugarcane!

I can’t remember when I ate a sugarcane last. It used to be a regular feature during my childhood. I was a bit curious if my teeth were up to the task and they did not let me down. My former dean, Prof. Venkatesh remarked “You can take the girl out of Gorakhpur but not Gorakhpur out of the girl!”

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The Buddhist Heritage of Sanghol

The second evening was devoted to exploring the excavation sites near Sanghol. Sanghol is just about 40 minutes drive from Chandigarh on the Chandigarh-Ludhiana highway. There are two sites close by to the ASI office. The one above is known as SGL5.

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The Water Channels at SGL5, Sanghol

The site is said to be dated from the Harrapan Civilization and it was continuously populated till the Gupta period. That means people lived at the site from about 2100 BCE to 6 CE! Then due to some reason it passed out from the cosmic favor! Now why is it that my travels are making me more curious about history?

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A Defense Wall from the Bygone Ear at Sanghol

There is a smaller site near the ASI building but I am not sure if it has any name, yet. Teja Singh ji, an ASI employee was quite excited about the finding of this wall. There was no excavation happening at present.

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The Main Structure at the Second Site, Sanghol

There were two ASI employees who mentioned that it looked like that this site hosted the rooms of the monks and SGL 5 was the meditation center.

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The Remains of a Covered Drainage System at Sanghol

On the smaller site there was a covered drain, and that immediately leads to the discussion that why can’t we achieve it now? We could not visit SGL 11 or the museum as they were closed by the time we ventured out of the college.

academic-mentors
Prof Venkatesh, Me, Prof Misra and Mr. Anil Yadav

And finally here are the three people who are responsible for keeping me in academia. We used to call them the members of the power corridor. They were the finest team I ever worked with. As Prof Misra and Mr Yadav now work at Sanghol, they showed us around! February for me has started on Β the right note!

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42 thoughts on “Sanghol- Glimpses of Rural Life and Buddhist Heritage”

  1. Lady Fi says:
    February 11, 2016 at 3:54 pm

    Great shots – I really love that first photo.

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 11, 2016 at 5:52 pm

      Thank you so much Lady Fi.

      Reply
  2. Somali says:
    February 11, 2016 at 4:27 pm

    Beautiful Buddhist heritage. Isn’t it nice when you can squeeze out the time from an official trip to catch a glimpse of life and heritage?

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 11, 2016 at 5:53 pm

      Yes Somali even when I quit my job too πŸ˜€

      Reply
  3. rupam { xhobdo } says:
    February 11, 2016 at 4:47 pm

    Beautiful post, Awesome pics.

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 11, 2016 at 5:55 pm

      Thank you so much Rupam.

      Reply
  4. Bikram says:
    February 11, 2016 at 5:13 pm

    THat shot of sugarcane field took me back Home .. beautiful pics mam

    Bikram’s

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 11, 2016 at 5:55 pm

      Thank you Bikram, they took me back to my childhood too!

      Reply
  5. Steps Together says:
    February 11, 2016 at 5:24 pm

    Very nice post.

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 11, 2016 at 5:55 pm

      Thank you so much.

      Reply
  6. Ravish Mani says:
    February 11, 2016 at 6:52 pm

    Beautiful pics, as usual. Well, your sugarcane was too short. I was assuming it as banana. πŸ™‚

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 11, 2016 at 8:40 pm

      That is because the rest of it was inside my stomach! It was ganna out and out! πŸ˜€

      Reply
  7. Archana Kapoor says:
    February 11, 2016 at 7:24 pm

    amazing place and beautiful shot Mridula… the painting picture is really nice! πŸ™‚ Lucky you!!!!

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 11, 2016 at 8:41 pm

      Thank you Archana, yes sometimes academic conferences give a glimpse into places too!

      Reply
  8. Chaitali says:
    February 11, 2016 at 8:01 pm

    Loved the third and fourth capture that non chal ant smile and the serene ambience.

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 11, 2016 at 8:42 pm

      Thank you Chaitali πŸ˜€

      Reply
  9. shaurya jain says:
    February 11, 2016 at 8:44 pm

    Wonderful. Punjab is one of my favourite states in India because of it’s beautiful fields and the Punjabi language !!

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 11, 2016 at 11:25 pm

      And I have seen so little of Punjab!

      Reply
  10. Chaitali Patel says:
    February 11, 2016 at 9:30 pm

    Love the sunset and sarson khet pictures! Yum I wish I could eat some sugarcane!

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 11, 2016 at 10:44 pm

      And I want more sugarcane now!

      Reply
  11. Purba Chakraborty says:
    February 12, 2016 at 12:32 am

    Such a beautiful place. It was amazing to read about your experience πŸ™‚

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 12, 2016 at 12:47 pm

      Thank you Purba, it was so much fun to meet my colleagues too!

      Reply
  12. Maniparna Sengupta Majumder says:
    February 12, 2016 at 9:08 am

    A great Buddhist site. I always have a special interest for such excavated sites. Thanks for sharing, Mridula… πŸ™‚

    P.S. Loved the sarson ka khet wala selfie… πŸ˜€

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 12, 2016 at 12:42 pm

      Thank you Maniparna πŸ˜€

      Reply
  13. Arun says:
    February 12, 2016 at 10:44 am

    Sunset pics is beautiful.

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 12, 2016 at 12:43 pm

      Thank you Arun.

      Reply
  14. Arun says:
    February 12, 2016 at 11:09 am

    Sarson ke khet looks wonderful! Really wish I could be there!
    Great pictures.

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 12, 2016 at 12:45 pm

      Thank you Arun. Now I want to go back and click better pictures!

      Reply
  15. Ami says:
    February 12, 2016 at 12:34 pm

    The Buddist Monastery looks interesting. And wow! you are good a selfies πŸ˜€

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 12, 2016 at 12:46 pm

      Thank you Ami, I do click a few slefies per trip! And hopefully I am getting better!

      Reply
  16. Indrani says:
    February 12, 2016 at 1:05 pm

    You have some awesome shots! I like the place, seems to be full of history.

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 12, 2016 at 1:35 pm

      Thank you Indrani, the history is fascinating, also we had the whole monuments to us!

      Reply
  17. Yogi saraswat says:
    February 12, 2016 at 2:22 pm

    Never listen about this place ! But your efforts to show this place is very appreciative . You still indulge in academic ?

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 13, 2016 at 2:00 pm

      This was the first conference I did after quitting Yogi. I still review for a few academic journals too!

      Reply
  18. matheikal says:
    February 13, 2016 at 10:10 am

    A fruitful journey through history.

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 13, 2016 at 1:59 pm

      Thank you so much.

      Reply
  19. Amit Agarwal says:
    February 13, 2016 at 12:16 pm

    Very interesting..!

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 13, 2016 at 1:59 pm

      Thank you Amit.

      Reply
  20. Rajeev Moothedath says:
    February 14, 2016 at 7:15 am

    Good to see you keep in touch with academics as well, as you follow your passion of travel and photography- Nice pics & intriguing piece on history and its mystery…

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 25, 2016 at 10:59 am

      Thank you so much Rajeev.

      Reply
  21. The Untourists says:
    February 25, 2016 at 9:25 am

    Didn’t know of a Buddhist heritage at Sanghol. Impressive. Often wondered why. These ancient civilisations abruptly shut down. Climate change?

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      February 25, 2016 at 11:00 am

      No idea why the civilizations shut down, not even sure if it was abrupt.

      Reply

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About Me

I am Mridula Dwivedi and I started this blog in 2005. It has been an amazing ride. I have visited 33 countries till date! I have worked with many tourism boards and prominent travel companies. My blog was featured on the BBC and the Guardian.

I did my Ph.D. from IIT Kanpur. I worked full time in academics till 2015! I quit my job as a professor, thinking I will take a break for one year, which turned into five.

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