Ministry of Ports is planning to build a National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) at Lothal

Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) is planning to build a National Maritime Heritage Museum (NMHC) at the site of the Indus Valley civilisation in Lothal, Gujarat.

• A first of its kind complex in India, and it will showcase country’s rich and diverse maritime heritage.

• It is one of the major projects under Sagarmala scheme (for promotion of port-led development) in India.

Historical importance of Lothal

• In 1952, archaeologist SR Rao of the Archaeological Survey of India discovered the sites of Lothal, Kalibangan, Dholavira and Rakhigarhi in a newly independent India.

• Though 18 times smaller than the nodal sites of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa that are now in Pakistan, Lothal is important because it is India’s first Harappan site.

• The Indus Valley civilization paradigm paradigm of dividing the city into a citadel or acropolis and a Lower Town was followed in planning Lothal.

• Excavations at Lothal have revealed the world’s oldest known artificial dock, which was connected to an old course of the Sabarmati River.

• Other features include the acropolis, the lower town, the bead factory, the warehouses, and the drainage system.

• It is said that Lothal is a combination of two words; Loth and thal, which in Gujarati means ‘the mound of the dead.’

• The city was inhabited during 3700 BCE and was a thriving trading port.

• The fire-altars found in houses and public places at Lothal and Kalibangan indicate that the Harappnas worshipped the Fire-God.

• The horned deity engraved on three Indus seals under the arch of flame can mostly be identified with the Fire God.

• The cemeteries at Lothal had a unique system of joint-burials in which two individuals were buried simultaneously.