A Possible Harappan Astronomical Observatory at Dholavira - Mayank Vahia & Srikumar M. Menon

Oct 17, 2026

Uploaded by nayy☆

Astronomy emerged early in human civilisations and likely advanced alongside technological and cultural development. The Harappan civilisation, with its scale and long-distance trade, would plausibly have maintained organised astronomical knowledge, including structures devoted to observing celestial events. This paper analyses an unusual Dholavira structure featuring two circular rooms. By assuming strategically placed ceiling openings, the study models sunlight paths and argues the larger complex may have operated as an astronomical observatory.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Harappan civilisation and the Kutch region

Dholavira

The Bailey structure

Circular and rectangular room functions

A POSSIBLE HARAPPAN ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY AT DHOLAVIRA Mayank Vahia Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhaba Road, Colaba, Mumbai 400 005, India, and Manipal Advanced Research Group, Manipal University, Manipal, Karnataka 576 104, India. Email: [vahia@tifr.res.in](vahia@tifr.res.in) and Srikumar M. Menon Manipal School of Architecture and Planning, Manipal University, Manipal, Karnataka 576 104, India. Abstract: Astronomy arises very early in a civilisation and evolves as the civilisation advances. It is therefore reasonable to assume that a vibrant knowledge of astronomy would have been a feature of a civilisation the size of the Harappan Civilisation. We suggest that structures dedicated to astronomy existed in every major Harappan city. One such city was Dholavira , an important trading port that was located on an island in what is now the Rann of Kutch during the peak of the Harappan Civilisation. We have analysed an unusual structure at Dholavira that includes two circular rooms. Upon assuming strategically-placed holes in their ceilings we examine the internal movement of sunlight within these rooms and suggest that the larger structure of which they formed a part could have functioned as an astronomical observatory. Keywords: Harappan Culture; Dholavira, astronomical observatory 1 INTRODUCTION Harappan civilisation is probably the largest and the most sophisticated of the Bronze Age civilisations in the world (Agrawal, 2007; Joshi, 2008; Possehl, 2009) . During itspeak period, between 2500 BC to 1900 BC, it covered an area of more than 1.5 million square km and traded over several thousand kilometres to western Asia and the horn of Africa (Wright, 2010) . The Civilisation itself was settled along the banks and upper reaches of two major rivers east of the Thar Desert in what is now Pakistan and India (Figure 1) . One of its most interesting features is several large and medium-sized settlements in the present day Gujarat region in what is called the Kutch (Chakrabarti, 2004; Rajesh and Patel, 2007) . Studies of the sites in the Kutch region suggest that the Little Rann of Kutch was covered with water with a few scattered islands. Several Harappan settlements have been found along the higher points in this region reinforcing ttrading outposts from which the Harappans trad the idea that the sites in Gujarat were used as ed with West Asia. This is further reinforced by Figure 1: Maximal geographical extent of the Harappan Civilisation in brown (after: Huntingon[archive.osu.edu./res](archive.osu.edu./res)[ources](ources)) . The white dot marks the site of Dholavira in the Little Rann of Kutch. Table 1: Dimensions of Dholavira (after Danino, 2010: 198) . | Location | Measurements (meters) | | | --- | --- | --- | | | Length | Width | | Lower town (entire city) | 771.1 | 616.9 | | Middle town | 340.5 | 290.5 | | Ceremonial ground | 283 | 47.5 | | Castle (inner) | 114 | 92 | | Castle (outer) | 151 | 118 | | Bailey | 120 | 120 | the nature of the settlements, ports and industries found in this area. Several of these were urban centres but in addition there were villages, craft centres , camp sites, fortified places etc. (see Ratnagar, 2006) . 2 DHOLAVIRA The largest Harappan site in this region of Gujarat was the city of Dholavira (Bisht, 1999) , which was on the banks of two seasonal rivulets, and close to a port from which extensive trading is believed to have occurred. Dholavira was divided into several functional sectors, in keeping with other Harappan cities at this time (Bisht, 2000; Joshi, 2008), and Figure 2 shows a town plan, while dimensions of different parts of the city are listed in Table 1. For the purpose of this paper, the area of interest is the region referred to as the ‘Bailey’ in Figure 2 , which lies immediately to the west of the Citadel. 2.1 The Bailey In the Bailey region of the city is a structure with a plan-form that is markedly different f

FAQs

Why do the authors connect astronomy with the Harappan civilisation?

They argue that astronomy develops early and progresses as a civilisation advances. Given the Harappan civilisation’s size and sophistication, it is reasonable to expect strong astronomical knowledge and dedicated structures.

What is unusual about the Dholavira structure studied in the paper?

The structure includes two circular rooms within a larger complex, with a combination of rectangular and circular spaces that differs from typical Harappan plan-forms.

How do the authors test the observatory idea?

They assume strategically placed holes in the ceilings and examine how sunlight moves within the rooms, then infer that the larger structure could have functioned as an astronomical observatory.

Oct 17, 2026

Uploaded by nayy☆