Sisupalgarh, supposedly the oldest fort of India was discovered during the 80's and is believed to have had the capacity of accommodating more than 20000 people. Thus making it one of the largest settlements of that age, probably even bigger than the city of Athens which housed a population close to 10000 people. We ensured to make an attempt to visit this place when in Bhubaneswar during our road trip to Orissa. After visiting the state Archaeological Museum, we decided to visit this wonderful site.
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| A Model of the Fort @ State Museum Bhubaneshwar |
The book we referred to gave us a brief idea about the location of this fort. Following these directions, we realized we had come close to this place yet we were far away since none of the locals were much aware of this place to guide us through. Finally a police man came to our rescue and gave us the right directions. We were greeted by a notice board put up by the A.S.I, signalling that we are on the right path and very close to this fort. With nobody around, finding the site became quite difficult and at one point we noticed another A.S.I board which took us to the entrance of the fort.
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| Entrance to Fort Sisupalgarh |
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| Remains of the Fort |
Researcher B B Lal describes the history of Sisupalgarh as follows , "This was the most celebrated fort during 3rd Century BC and was bigger than Athens". We were the only ones present around this part of the fort. Unfortunately, we could sight a big township developing adjacent to the fort site making it vulnerable to extinction and crying for help. Sadly what was once the Queen's Palace has been reduced today to a marshy area. The pillars here have survived for 2000 odd years and today are in a state of pity due to the nasty real estate business, luring the government against taking any effective measures for preserving this historical site.
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| Remains of Queen's Palace |
It is very disheartening to know that many such historical sites in India have vanished due to greed of the current generation and many more are falling prey to the same. We only hope that a day comes when man realizes that such historical sites have to be preserved for the betterment of the society.
It must have been quite an experience to visit such an old fort. Sad to see the state of neglect though. And even sadder is the fact that this is true of most of our less known heritage sites. I just hope it stays free from encroachment and urbanisation. Will remember this whenever o visit orissa.
ReplyDeleteSo much incredible history and what a wonderful experience indeed to visit it!! It is so sad indeed to see the state of neglect and that it's most likely to disappear entirely!! Thank you so much for sharing these and such a great post/photos!! Hope your weekend is going well!
ReplyDeleteinteresting old ruins. 20,000 people must have been incredible!
ReplyDeleteGreat to know about this historic site. But sad to see that it is being neglected.
ReplyDeleteVery informative post with good write up and pictures...
ReplyDeleteInteresting Post about the historic site.Lovely clicks.Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.srikri.com/
Nice to know about this wonderful fort.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting!!
ReplyDeleteFascinating!! Only hope that the real estate sharks dont swallow it up!
ReplyDeleteVery informative post with good write up and nice pictures !!
ReplyDeleteAmazing! Incredible! Interesting!!
ReplyDeleteSuperb archaeologisty, fantastic.
ReplyDeleteThe Untourists commented "I had never heard of Sisulapgarh! Would love to know more about the history of this fort. True, it's sad that such sites re prone to vandalism and antique poaching..."
ReplyDeletewe see many neglected monuments & relics of our ancient past, grossly neglected & prayed upon by modern ignorant people.this is a very sad situation....we have never had any HISTORICAL SENSE OR PERSPECTIVE in this country. our historians are a product of western dictation,they have blindly accepted the IMPERIAL MOLD.......our total lack of historical sense is what makes us 'subservient' to western interpretation of distorted history..... we are not PROUD of our heritage, our culture, hallowed as it is, nor are prepared to come out of our self-imposed exile of our un-informedness. we must resuscitate our invaluable contribution to history by recreation & documentation. we must chronicle our past with a sense of responsibility to our posterity, so that our successive generations are kept informed of the glory of our civilization.
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