Nani Rayan

SR No.: 001481
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Pulin Vasa
Publisher: Kalikal Sarvagya Shri Hemchandracharya Navam Janmashatabdi Smruti Sanskar Shikshannidhi Ahmedabad
Total Pages: 66
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Art, & Culture
File Size: 9 MB

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Of the two burial places, one is close to Dhoramnath Temple and other on the southwestern border of village. The first has both ancient and recent burials while the later does not show any recent burials.
During monsoon and immediate post monsoon period the field are filled with lush green crop. While in dry season after the harvest the land is exposed and if you are watchful you may spot some potsherds or khsatrap period coins. The best way, I have found, is to walk behind the plough when the field is being prepared or search in the fields when a tractor is digging trenches for sowing seeds. My friends inform me when any major dig is planned or executed or a large pit or a trench is to be dug. I remain present during these digs and find some small bits of evidence. Thus over a period of two decades, bit-by-bit, I have gathered a rich collection of evidences.
Four deep trenches were dug to lay the pipelines. The first trench was around the temple of Dada Dhoramnath. The second passed thru the entire length of the village. The third trench started from the river and ran parallel to the village. Forth one was a smaller trench passing thru some fields northwest to the village.
These trenches showed me a cross section of the earth below the ground-level. Though this was a partial and a narrow cross section, it revealed a lot of information. It proved that the present village and the fields sit over a civilization buried 2 to 6 feet bellow the level of the ground. There were buried walls, potter's cline, pots and many varieties of potteries heaped together, along with an iron smelting unit and graves with complete human skeletons.
I spent hours walking thru these trenches, collecting specimens, taking measurements and photographing the trench.
The first trench revealed a row of 4 ft tall, large pots severely damaged by the bulldozer. Many fragmented potsherds and a layer of ash were visible. At one place the trench passed thru a cemetery, slicing open a grave. It showed a complete skeleton of a woman. As the opening of the grave was narrow, the structure of the grave or objects inside it could not be studied.
The second and, the largest, trench was 10 ft deep and 3 ft broad passing the entire length of the Nani Rayan. Entering from North-Eastern direction and leaving the village in South-West corner. I recorded many walls of baked earth bricks cemented with mud mortar. At some places, there were heaps of bowls and dishes surrounded by ash indicating that this was where pottery had been baked.
Broken pieces of many different types of potteries damaged by the digging machines could be seen at very small intervals. I was able to collect a few intact specimens. At many places broken pots of about 4 feet in size, could be seen. At one place there was a thick layer of ash and charcoal, and many iron ingots embedded in the ash,
As the trench left the site of Nani Rayan, it again passed thru an abundant graveyard. Here, again, I located two human skeletons 9 feet below the ground. The machine had dug out half of one skeleton while the remaining was hanging out the cross-section of the earth.
Description of the Site