Location of Lothal
Lothal comes from the word Loth. In Gujarati Loth means death. Located on the Ahmedabad/ Pali tana/ Rajkot/ Jamnagar/ Dwarka highway, 17 km from Bagodra (59 kms to the south) between the Sabarmali and Bhogobo rivers.
History of Lothal
In the history of civilization, the name of Lothal has been written in red letters along with other historic sites like Mahenzodaro, Harappa, Chanhudaro (Pakistan), Banwali (Haryana), Kalirangan (Rajasthan). The distance of Lothal from Mahenzodaro is just 720 km. In 1955-62 the excavation brought 16 cemeteries to light from underground at Lothal—3 of them have already been examined. In 1924 a discovery of a big tank as in Mahenzodaro proved that once there was a dockyard. The archaeologists excavated a dockyard which could harbour 30 ships of 60 tonnage at a time. The walled port-city reservoir, markets and business complexes, nullhas and drainage systems, utensils, garments, balances for weighing, bare and simple necessities of life, chess board, one Assyrian and one Egyptian terracotta mummy, more than 65 seal and tanzany totems or the religious symbols— all these are proofs of the linkage with Mesopotemia (present Iraq), Bahrain in terms of trade and commerce.
10 ft high wall—710 x 166 ft brick structure is also an unique instance. It is the contemporary of Indus Valley civilization (2500-1700 BC). Even it has been proved that 500 yrs after the ruin of Harappan civilization, Lothal civilization was alive and kicking. It was drowned by a devastating deluge later.
This article is originally published in Travel India and India Study Channel
Things to see at Lothal
A huge museum has been set up there based upon Lothal collections. Except holiday, remains open from 10-00 am to 5-00 pm.
How to reach Lothal
TCGL package tour from Ahmedabad may bring you to Lothal. From Ahmedabad you may visit Lothal by taxi, train or bus. Ahmedabad-Botad/Bhavnagar metregauge rail will bring you to 95 km away Lothal-Bhurki Stn. Trains take 3 hours from Ahmedabad to reach Lothal. From station, one can walk it or take an irregular bus or also a tempo to visit the important spots. 2 buses at 7 and 8 am leave Ahmedabad for Lothal and leave Lothal at 11-00 am and 5-00 pm for Ahmedabad.
35 km to the South West of Ahmedabad, midway in transit at Dholka you may change bus for Lothal. You may get more buses here. On the way at Dholka, tourists can visit the mosque of Hilal Khan Kazi (1333), Tanka Masjid (1361), Alif Khan Masjid (1453) one can taste the famous local guava. Palitana or Bhavnagar bound buses may also help you to reach Coast Road and from there to Arnage and from Arnage to 12 km away Lothal by auto rickshaw.
Returning from Lothal to Bagodra one may go to Bhavnagar or Palitana along NH 8A via Gangali. From Arnage you may visit Palitana/Bhavnagar/ Rajkot by bus. Lothal is even today inaccessible for its bad communication.
Where to stay at Lothal
However, if you can reach there somehow, you may halt at TCGL's Toran. 7 km from Lothal in the tribal village amidst beautiful nature there is Hotel Palace Utelia , where you can stay also.
This article is originally published in Travel India and India Study Channel
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