A Holy Man’s Dream Intersects With An Archaeologists Exploration

Elizabeth Prendiville of Saffronart shares news about an archaeological dig with an interesting motivation.

 

New York: In the vastly impoverished village of Daudiakala in northern Uttar Pradesh archaeologists have started an extensive dig looking for artifacts in the ruins of a centuries old fort belonging to Raja Rao Ram Bux Singh. This Hindu king was executed due to his involvement in an 1857 revolt against the colonial British. The inspiration for this dig came from two vastly different sources. A well-regarded local Hindu holy man dreamnt about buried treasures of immense value in this location. Swamy Shobhan Sarkar said the dead king himself had come to him in his dream and told him to seek out the buried gold. The holy man stated that his dream foresaw 1,000 tonnes of gold at the site. Prior to the swamy’s dream The Archaeological Survey of India started examining the excavation projected based off of results from the Geological Survey of India, which suggested that gold, and silver artifacts could be buried there. Regardless of whether the motivation was rooted in the mystic or scientific, a media storm has be started around the promise of immense riches in the site. This is especially controversial in such a poor community and has inspired many local residents to come to the site. Police have had to enforce barriers to protect the archaeologist’s work.

 

Although the media has stoked the fantastical element of this excavation the AIS insists that it is for the single purpose of learning more about the forts historical heritage rather than finding a sizable sum of gold. Thus far a wall dated from the medieval period, earthen jars, pots, a hearth and a floor have been found. The dig is projected to take at least a month with the existing twelve-person team. As the excavation continues we shall see the validity in this holy mans dream!