Enormous And Impressive Derawar Fort, Bahawalpur, Pakistan Will Be Restored

AncientPages.com - Enormous and impressive structure of Derawar Fort is located at the edge of the Cholistan desert. It's a famed hallmark of Bahawalpur, the eleventh largest city in Pakistan and the capital of Bahawalpur District.

The whole area around Derawar was once well watered by the river Ghaggar, now called the Hakara in Pakistan, and known in ancient Vedic times as the Sarasvati. The fort was built by Hindu Rajput, Bhati of Jaisalmer.

The Punjab government has recently released a sum of six million rupees to the Archaeology Department for the restoration of damaged boundary wall and bastions of historical Derawar Fort – standing tall on the edge of Cholistan desert to the south east of Dera Nawab in district Bahawalpur, according to Daily Times.

The fort itself is badly in need of repair and restoration work due to extreme weather and time, especially, the east-south bastion, a 32-foot long portion of one of the walls and a 19-foot long portion of another wall along Derawar Fort.

The fort is more impressive from outside and supported by 39 enormous buttresses, with four on each corner, nine on three sides including West, South and North and eight on eastern side.

According to The Express Tribune a 19-feet wide portion of the boundary wall and the 62-feet wide bastion of the Derawar Fort would be restored up to a height of 75-feet.

Several archeological sites, some of which date back to the time of the Indus Valley Civilization, surround the Derawar Fort. These sites have not been excavated yet.

Conservation work should, hopefully, begin within 30 or 45 days, the officials of the Archaeology Department said.

“A portion of the wall will be renovated with the funds released recently and the remaining work will be put off for when we get funds again,” the official said.

The Punjab Archaeology Department says there has been a fort at Derawar for nearly 5,000 years to protect the trade route from central Asia to the subcontinent.

A six-foot high fence and 3.5 kilometre long boundary wall for the site will be built. The 1.3 kilometre long walkway-track at the archaeological mound was being repaired and tough tiles were being used to pave the area in front of the Harappa Museum.

Archaeologists also focus on the conservation and restoration of archaeological remains, an extension of the museum gallery, maintenance and levelling of lawns, installation of security lights on museum premises, signboards for local and foreign tourists, provision of safe drinking water and benches, improvement of toilets and washrooms, to build a canteen and to purchase furniture for the rest house.

A special entrance gate carrying motifs and features of some of the ancient gates excavated from the site will be installed and two large unicorn statues would also be placed at the site.

AncientPages.com

The Express Tribune

Daily Times