Archaeological site in Gujarat’s Kutch district – the Harappan city of Dholavira – has been declared as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO on Tuesday.
Dholavira, which is one of the five largest Harappan sites, is believed to be one of the grandest cities of the time and is the most important archaeological site belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization that is located in present day India.
Dholavira was discovered by JP Joshi from the Archaeological Survey of India in 1967-68. It is located on Khadir bet island in the Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary in the Great Rann of Kutch.
The 120 acres quadrangular city lay between two seasonal streams – the Mansar in the north and Manhar in the south.
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According to historians, the city of Dholavira was thriving between 2650 BCE and 2100 BCE, after which it started to decline like other Harappan cities.
It is also considered as having been the grandest and richest of cities of its time.