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Posted at: Jul 1, 2019, 6:48 AM; last updated: Jul 1, 2019, 6:53 AM (IST)Retirement day for Teja Singh, attendant with Archaeological Survey of India, who played key role
The discoveries at Sanghol and in Ropar owe a great deal to Teja Singh, who had no formal education or training.
Vishav Bharti
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 30
In the mid-1980s, a farmer in Sanghol complained how his plough did not have a smooth run. Teja Singh, then a daily-wager with the Archaeology Department, took one look at the pieces of bricks scattered in the field and knew the land beneath stored a treasure.
A centuries-old Buddhist stupa, which is now an Archaeological Survey of India protected site, was found in Sanghol, midway between Chandigarh and Ludhiana. From the same field, the famous bust of Buddha (now placed in Sanghol museum) was excavated.
After 30 years as an attendant and 50 years of service, Teja Singh has retired — with a reputation and respect that few can lay claim to.
A primary school dropout, he got associated with the department in 1968 when excavation work had started in his native village Sanghol — which turned out to be a key site of the Indus Valley Civilisation. “We hired him as a digger, but I noticed he had a curiosity to learn, and had a good knowledge of excavation and interpretation,” recalls Ravindra Singh Bisht, then a junior official with Punjab Archaeology Department who retired as Joint Director General, ASI.
Teja Singh did not have any formal training but over the years attained a natural flair — guiding in which direction the excavation should go, how deep to dig the ground.
He could look at bricks, pottery, antiquities and tell their age. Bisht recommended hiring him as an attendant in 1989. Since then, whenever excavations in Punjab hit a dead-end, everybody knew who to call. Even universities and colleges in Punjab and Haryana started inviting him.
In 2012, when Dr VN Prabhakar (now director with ASI) started excavation at an Indus Valley site in Ropar, he was unable to go beyond a point. He shared the problem with his teacher Bisht, who asked him to engage Teja Singh. Later, they were able to find pottery at the same spot.
“Experts were supervising excavation with the help of machines at Ucha Pind Sunet in Ludhiana. After a point, they gave up. Actually, they were hitting debris and confusing the unbaked bricks with mud. Down 1.5 metres, I got them Harappan Age pottery,” recalls Teja Singh.
Bisht says he often tells his students there are two kinds of excavators: one who deal with people like Teja Singh in a bureaucratic manner, and the other who engage with them and try to learn from their experience. “The latter ones are always gainers.”
So, to Teja Singh, an obvious question: just how can he smell history? “My entire life has gone in this. If I will not recognise these bricks, what else will I?” Teja Singh replies, beaming.
Thank you
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/matchless-zest-in-quest-to-dig-out-punjab-s-past/795247.html
Posted at: Jul 1, 2019, 6:48 AM; last updated: Jul 1, 2019, 6:53 AM (IST)Retirement day for Teja Singh, attendant with Archaeological Survey of India, who played key role
- Also in this section
The discoveries at Sanghol and in Ropar owe a great deal to Teja Singh, who had no formal education or training.
Vishav Bharti
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 30
In the mid-1980s, a farmer in Sanghol complained how his plough did not have a smooth run. Teja Singh, then a daily-wager with the Archaeology Department, took one look at the pieces of bricks scattered in the field and knew the land beneath stored a treasure.
A centuries-old Buddhist stupa, which is now an Archaeological Survey of India protected site, was found in Sanghol, midway between Chandigarh and Ludhiana. From the same field, the famous bust of Buddha (now placed in Sanghol museum) was excavated.
After 30 years as an attendant and 50 years of service, Teja Singh has retired — with a reputation and respect that few can lay claim to.
A primary school dropout, he got associated with the department in 1968 when excavation work had started in his native village Sanghol — which turned out to be a key site of the Indus Valley Civilisation. “We hired him as a digger, but I noticed he had a curiosity to learn, and had a good knowledge of excavation and interpretation,” recalls Ravindra Singh Bisht, then a junior official with Punjab Archaeology Department who retired as Joint Director General, ASI.
Teja Singh did not have any formal training but over the years attained a natural flair — guiding in which direction the excavation should go, how deep to dig the ground.
He could look at bricks, pottery, antiquities and tell their age. Bisht recommended hiring him as an attendant in 1989. Since then, whenever excavations in Punjab hit a dead-end, everybody knew who to call. Even universities and colleges in Punjab and Haryana started inviting him.
In 2012, when Dr VN Prabhakar (now director with ASI) started excavation at an Indus Valley site in Ropar, he was unable to go beyond a point. He shared the problem with his teacher Bisht, who asked him to engage Teja Singh. Later, they were able to find pottery at the same spot.
“Experts were supervising excavation with the help of machines at Ucha Pind Sunet in Ludhiana. After a point, they gave up. Actually, they were hitting debris and confusing the unbaked bricks with mud. Down 1.5 metres, I got them Harappan Age pottery,” recalls Teja Singh.
Bisht says he often tells his students there are two kinds of excavators: one who deal with people like Teja Singh in a bureaucratic manner, and the other who engage with them and try to learn from their experience. “The latter ones are always gainers.”
So, to Teja Singh, an obvious question: just how can he smell history? “My entire life has gone in this. If I will not recognise these bricks, what else will I?” Teja Singh replies, beaming.
Thank you
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/matchless-zest-in-quest-to-dig-out-punjab-s-past/795247.html