GUWAHATI, Nov 19 ? The archaeological site of Ambari in the city is now open for visitors. From 10 am to 4 pm every working day, visitors will be able to see for themselves what the already excavated part of the site has been preserving for them. The excavated part of the site provides testimony to the State?s civilisation dated about 13 centuries back, said Director of State Archaeology Dr H N Dutta here today.
State?s Cultural Affairs Minister Dr Hemaprabha Saikia today opened the Ambari Archaeological site and its site museum for the visitors at a function held by the Archaeology Directorate on the occasion of the World Heritage Week that began today.
Ambari started hogging the headlines in the late 1960s when a lot of archaeological materials came out during the digging for laying the foundation of the multi-storey Regional Headquarters of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was undertaken.
The site became known all over the world within no time. Soon teams under the renowned archaeologists like Late Prof Madhav Chandra Goswami, Dr H D Sankalia, M K Dhavalikar, Z A Ansaari and Dr H C Sarma, among others, conducted excavation at the site one after another, in a bid to unearth the gems of the famous Brahmaputra Valley Civilisation.
Former President of India Dr Zakir Hussain, a great patron of knowledge, visited the site in 1970. He made the Central and State Governments to attach due importance to the site and hence the site was declared a protected one by the State Government as per the provisions of the Assam Ancient Monuments and Records Act, 1959.
The Directorate of Archaeology has now completed the structural conservation of the exposed part of the site. It has also prepared an interim report on the excavations at the site. The report is being published for public use, Dutta said.
However, for the purpose of preparing a complete report on the site, Dutta said that the Directorate had to complete further excavation at the site. So far, the Directorate has been able to excavate only an area measuring 42 metres by 30 metres at the site. The Directorate has already approached the Kamrup (Metro) district administration for extending help to shift the existing buildings on the site to some other areas for ameliorating further excavation, he said.
Meanwhile, the Directorate held a meeting today to mark the beginning of the World Heritage Week at the Ambari site. Dr Tarun Chandra Sarma, who also led the excavation at the site for some time was felicitated by Dr Hemaprobha Saikia at the meeting chaired by Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Culture Mrinal Kumar Barooah.
Dr Sarma inaugurated a photo exhibition organised by the Directorate synchronising with the Week, at the site. The exhibition will remain open for the visitors for one week since today, Dutta said.
Dr Hemaprobha Saikia, Mrinal Kumar Barooah, former Vice-Chancellor of Arunachal University Prof A C Bhagawati, Dr Tarun Chandra Sarma, Dr H N Dutta and Ranjana Sarma addressed the meeting, among others. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is also observing the World Heritage Week with a photo exhibition at the archaeological site of Surya Pahar since today.