Vadnagar is a living town and archeologically has a large history. A place where life existed from its inception to the modern day. One can find its mention in Skanda Purana as well as in Baudhayana Dharmasutra. There is also a reference to Vadnagar in Hiuen Tsang’s travelogues from the early 7th century. He refers to Vadnagar as Anandapura and describes the town as the epicenter of Buddhism. Excavations have also found a Boddhisatva statue dating back to the 3rd or 4th centuries. The place that chants the ideologies of Buddhism, where Kalpasutra, a Jain scripture was first recited, and where Hinduism was widespread is not a major metropolitan city, but a small town known as Vadnagar, and its history is as grand as it gets!
Glory of Vadnagar
Vadnagar is a historic town in Northern Gujarat, India. Situated between the foothills of the Aravali mountains and the Rupen River, the current town sits atop a huge mound. Constant structural changes made by humans led to new additions which can be seen as a 24 m high mound. One of the most important ports in the country was Vadnagar Sthalapattan. Vadnagar, similar to cities then in India, like Madurai, Ujjain, Pataliputra, Kashi, and Indraprastha, has been bestowed with the title of ‘eternal’ because of its indestructible characteristics.
Vadnagar is surrounded by fortification made of bricks and partly stone covering an area of 1km east-west and 700 m north-south. The fortification wall of the northern section is built in a semicircular manner that aligns with Sharmishtha Lake. The city of Vadnagar is protected by the Arjunbari gate on the north, Nadiol and Amtol gates on the west, Ghaskol and Pithori gates on the south and Amarthol gate on the east. These gates have niches with sculptures of several deities such as Mahishasurmardini, Bhairav, and Ganesha. Along with these gates, the built heritage of Vadnagar consists of temples, waterbodies, Torana, and residential houses.
Architecture of the Town
Vadnagar being the town of the Nagar Brahmins there is a Hatkeshwar Mahadev mandir that showcases some exquisitely carved sculptures on its walls. The two Kirti Toranas are the most iconic monuments of the town. These toranas are built in yellow sandstone without the use of any mortar or cement as the binding agent. The water bodies like Gauri Kund, which is a stepped square water tank, Paschim Mehta ni Vav, having symmetrically aligned pillars, and Zunzunia well with inner walls depicting swans and floral motifs narrate a story of the town’s architectural richness and climate responsive approach towards designing. Residential spaces are designed efficiently to provide light, shade, and coolness. The construction technique used along with the building materials, the carefully designed water management system, self-sufficient planning, sustainable land use, and building design show a profound environmental engineering.
Excavation – An Archaeological Time Machine
The town of Vadnagar is multi-layered evidence of civilizations in history. An archaeological way of perceiving the town is like a book read upside down where each page must be turned over, dug deeper, and understood. The Directorate of Archaeology along with the Government of Gujarat carried out an excavation at the different locations within and outside of the fortified town from 2006 to 2012 to find out the cultural sequence of the site. Various excavations in Vadnagar have brought to light beginning from the pre-rampart period to the present day an unbroken categorization of seven consecutive cultures was found in the excavations of Vadnagar. Archaeologists couldn’t reach the virgin soil to find the origin of the civilization in Vadnagar as the high-water table of the area restricted the excavation to a deeper level.
The indestructible Vadnagar
Vadnagar saw a major change in town planning and the replacement of the earthen rampart by a strong fortification erected with expansive use of kiln-burnt brick. This period steered a new era of development and growth in the life of the town and its residents as is evident by the excavations which found profuse use of burnt bricks in the construction of houses as well as the fort wall. This planning of town seems to have lasted for numerous centuries without any major change, conceivably till the 12th century CE.
Despite adverse environmental conditions in the past, Vadnagar could sustain and has been continuously doing so for the past 2700 years. It is through its rainwater harvesting techniques, water conservation methods, and strategies to raise the groundwater table. This observation is confirmed by identifying 36 interlinked artificial water bodies that were designed in a way that water accommodated in any sources wouldn’t lower, or overflow to avoid drought situations. Unlike other ancient historical sites, such as Harappa and Kalibangan, which were ultimately abandoned, Vadnagar has continued, demonstrating its fortitude and outstanding universal value.
The excavations held in Vadnagar provide a fascinating glimpse into India’s ancient history. The journey towards uncovering the depths of Vadnagar’s history resulted in findings that demonstrate a harmonious blend of past with present making Vadnagar a living testament to the human settlement evolution.
Bibliography:
UNESCO World Heritage Centre (no date) Vadnagar – a multi-layered historic town, Gujarat, UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Available at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6629/ (Accessed: 25 March 2024).
Rajan, R. (2024b) Vadnagar unearthed: Journey through millennia, challenging notions of a dark age, Times of India Blog. Available at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/blackslate-corner/vadnagar-unearthed-journey-through-millennia-challenging-notions-of-a-dark-age/ (Accessed: 25 March 2024).
Ananth Anaadih Vadnagar (2023). [Documentary]. India. Discovery Plus India streaming platform.
