N Kalia

Intal Kalan (Jind), July 7

Residents found an ancient structure while digging a pond in Intal Kalan village of district.

A few days ago, the residents had started cleaning of the pond located outside the village with the help of a JCB machine. While cleaning, they noticed some wall-like structure beneath the ground. On further digging, they found a long wall in the pond. The villagers also recovered large-size bricks from the site.

On getting information, Jind-based historian Prof BB Kaushik, who visited the site, said: “The structure looks different from the Harappan-era and it is clear from the size of the bricks recovered from the site. The bricks are of 38cmX22cmX6.5cm dimensions, while Harappan bricks were smaller in size.”

“The site seems to be older than the Harappan period and it looks like that it belongs to the later Vedic period,” he said, adding that the government should protect and conserve the site.

Dharamveer Sharma, a former official of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), said: “The site appears to be an ashram in the Vedic period where saints used to perform yajna.” He also supported the fact that the site was not related to the Harappan period and could be older than that of the period around 1,800 BC. Sharma said that he had noticed signs of three fingers on some bricks which could have some religious belief during the Vedic period.

Sharma said the state government and the ASI to explore the site and start excavation to know the right chronology of the site.

Ramesh Kumar, a former sarpanch of the village, said: “Every year, people, especially from southern states, visit our village to perform some rituals near the pond. It is still not clear why they visit our village and how they come to know about it.”

Deputy Commissioner Vinay Singh said the administration would approach the ASI and the other departments concerned to bring out the facts of ancient site.

He said: “I will also send a team of officials to the village to know more about the place. If anything having historical importance has been recovered then the administration will preserve it.”