Indications of Ancient Pataliputra Remains Found in Patna City in GPR Survey

• 12 Jan 2023

Why In News?

• Recently, the Bihar state government has started a survey with Ground Painting Radar (GPR) to find the remains of ancient Pataliputra. In which there are signs of finding the remains of ancient Pataliputra.

Key Points

• The GPR survey is currently being conducted by a team from IIT Kanpur in the areas around Gulzarbagh. The team said that there are signs of a brick wall between 490 BC-180 BC around Gulzarbagh.
• In this survey, there are signs of remains being found below 80 centimeters to 2.5 meters, which are in different directions. There are also signs of remains under Begum's mansion and BNR Training College.
• In fact, before the archaeological excavation, the GPR survey finds a symbolic signal of the historical remains. Based on this indication, the Archaeological Survey of India conducts excavations.
• According to the survey team, there are signs of multi-structure residue one meter below the ground of BNR Training College. According to experts, evidence of a tunnel that may be going towards the River Ganga is being found. In the 3D profile of this survey, structures ranging from one meter to three meters of Mauryan period are visible.
• Significantly, GPR is a geophysical method, which uses radar for surface image. It is a way of surveying subsurface to check underground utilities such as sites of archaeological importance. With this state-of-the-art survey technique, all the information up to 15 meters below the ground is easily available without digging. Excavations at important places, where historical heritage can be buried, are more prone to their destruction, but there is no damage in this survey.