Announcing that Agroha will be developed as a prominent archaeological site, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said that a chair will be set up in the name of Maharaja Agrasen in Maharaja Agrasen Medical College, Agroha (Hisar), besides setting up a statue of Maharaja Agrasen in the premises of Hisar airport, which is also named after him.
Khattar made these announcements during the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony organized at Haryana Bhawan, New Delhi, for developing Agroha as a prominent archaeological site.
The MoU was signed between Archaeological Survey of India and Department of Archaeological and Museums, Haryana, in the presence of the Chief Minister, Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker Gyanchand Gupta — who has been recently nominated as Agroha Development Project (ADP) chairman, and Urban Local Bodies Kamal Gupta — who the co-chairman.
The Chief Minister said that a statue of Maharaja Agrasen will be set up in the premises of Hisar Airport and the statue would be made with the cooperation of Vaish Samaj. He said that he had named the world’s largest Hisar Airport after the name of Maharaja Agrasen, though none asked for it. He said that the Maharaja Agrasen chair would be set up for taking up research and study on Maharaja Agrasen.
Talking about the evolution of human civilization, he said that evidence has been found that the habitation mainly happened near the rivers and river Saraswati, which has its origin from Aadi Badri (Yamunanagar), also flowed through Haryana.
Over a period of time, due to excavations and mining, the river Saraswati got merged with other rivers but pictures received from satellite indicate that the river Saraswati, initiating from Aadi badri fell into the sea after flowing through parts of Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, he said.
“Many habitations came up along this river, out of which Agroha was one of them. The remains of ancient city Agroha is buried under this mound. This site was excavated from 1978 to 1981. Presently, it is a centrally protected monument of national importance. It is an early historical site covering the stages of history…Buried in these significant ruins are evidence of the capital of the Agroha state, which was the so-called capital of Maharaja Agrasen, the famous king of the Agrawal community. It was an important center of trade and commerce in ancient times. The archaeological site of Agroha is located about 1.5 km from the present Agroha village, district Hisar,” he said.
“The internationally famous Rakhigarhi site is located just one hour away from this site, and other Harappan period sites like Bhirdana, Kunal, Banawali etc are also found near this site. Agroha itself holds the significance of being a fort, and has in its vicinity the historical sites dating back to the times of Prithviraj and Firoz Shah,” he added.
Due to all these reasons, he said, the heritage of Agroha is still significant till date and to make it prevalent and prosperous for the future generations and to upgrade and develop the site, this MoU is presented before us.
He directed the concerned officers to start a GPS survey followed by a site excavation in the first phase. The upcoming phases of its development will include Tourist Welcome Centre, Site Lecture Centre or Museum (Mahabharata Panorama), Planetarium – based on astronomical timeline, Light and Sound show – based on Mahabharata or the great King Agrasen, Meditation Centre, Ancient Martial Arts Centre, Knowledge Park etc will be constructed along with it. Through all these efforts, emphasis will be laid on social, cultural and historical value.
The Chief Minister also launched a special bus service for Agroha and Rakhigarhi from Delhi and Chandigarh. This will be a full day tour for the people who want to explore Rakhigarhi and Agroha sites. For availing this bus service, one can contact on the mobile no. 9896981775, Khattar added.
